Who Will Decide About Royalties

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Who Will Decide About Royalties

Big Oil and their pals in the investment industry according to this story in the Globe and Mail today.The folks who have been whining the most are having secret meetings with Stelmach's Government.

According to Tristone, which has worked closely with Alberta civil servants in Edmonton to produce new work it will present on Monday

“I think Stelmach's going to make the right decision,” said George Gosbee, chairman of Tristone Capital Inc., a Calgary investment bank that has worked to broker a balance between higher royalties and keeping the province's economic engine running.

These are the same guys that said this earlier this month; Tristone CEO sees lower gas output if cost rises

International oil producers will flee Alberta if the Western Canadian province's government implements a proposed hike to oil and natural gas royalties and taxes, an investment bank said on Monday.
Going ahead with a recommended 20 percent, or C$2 billion, hike to Alberta's take from oil and gas production in the province will actually cause government revenue to drop as production falls by half-a-million barrels a day, according to Tristone Capital Inc, an investment bank that serves the oil and gas industry.
"The C$2 billion increase per year in the government's take is an absolute fallacy," George Gosbee, Tristone's chief executive, told reporters.
Instead of an increase, government revenue would fall by about $1 billion a year if the proposals are adopted, the banker said.
Tristone's study is the latest in a series of industry arguments against the royalty hike proposed last month by a government-appointed panel.

Tristone did not make their predictions or objections known to the original Royalty Commission.