Yeah, I suppose that they don't deserve to get into the 21st century.. That's a privilege reserved only for us.
in many areas it is us who are lagging behind. More people take a train in one day in China than live in Canada.Yeah, I suppose that they don't deserve to get into the 21st century.. That's a privilege reserved only for us.
I'd really appreciate if you'd outline the facts that are being distorted... So far, we've kicked the ball around on the economic health of these corps, the royalty structure in Ab as well as the relative royalty structures elsewhere.
I am forced to repeat these arguments as you elect to not tackle them head-on. You have decided to cling to a number of intangible and emotionally based arguments. My revisitation of "earlier arguments" is simply a manifestation of my interest in bringing specific issues to a head and (hopefully) getting an answer(s).
Other than the very public communications of BP in the Gulf, I am at a loss to come up with any real and compelling examples of the fabrications, distortions and misleading public relations (as it relates to the AB situation).
http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/5923.pdf
http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/6818.pdf
http://www.ercb.ca/docs/programs/Lmp/HistoryOrphanFund.pdf
Security for land reclamation performance – Alberta Environment
I guess that I wasn't clear enough for you.. Considering that this discussion is exclusively about oil/gas, I naturally assumed that you'd have the capacity to understand that the comment on "energy" was an actual reference to sources of energy derived from hydrocarbons.
However, if you are making the argument that the globe will be utterly dependent on hydrocarbons then you're making my argument for me.
On the tax/profit issue, perhaps the best recommendation for you is to encourage you and your ilk to demand that government institute prohibitive royalty structures and tax the E&P companies out of existence in this nation... Sure, you will still personally rely on oil as a fuel source and will have to pay through the ass for it, you'll still pollute, there will still be spills and contamination; but you can rest easy at night knowing that you're pleasing your eco-fascist masters that dictate to you and the rest of the eco-fringe what to think, when to think it and how you must alter your reality to accommodate their agenda.
Say hi to Dear Leader for me and enjoy the kool-aid
It is nice to note that having run out of intelligent commentary you resort to name-calling
and gross exaggeration of the facts and my position.
I have no idea what the inane Kool-Aid reference meant unless you were referring to Jonestown
Alright. Here is one distortion of the truth that the oil industry has made continuously over the years and that is that if Alberta raises its royalties to the same rates as nations like Norway it will leave the province. One wonders where it would go and why it hasn't left Norway. The point is if there is a nickle to be made the oil industry will stay right where is is, especially as it gets such a sweet deal from the Alberta government.
You might also want to look at this. I find it a bit revealing. http://www.iraqdividend.com/World_Oil_Tax_Policies.pdf
So far as taxing oil companies out of existence I find it very difficult to believe considering that Alberta's rates trail so many other oil producing regions.
The problem is, CM that you seem content to believe what professional propagandists for the oil industry say.
You may also want to look at this article comparing the oil industry in Alberta and Venezuela, especially the section where it describes the one percent royalty paid by oil sands producers. Venezuela's and Canada's Very Different Approaches to Oil | venezuelanalysis.com
I also found this article from an investment adviser interesting especially where it talks about the lack of risk involved in the oil sands. Mega Profits from the Oil Reserve 8 Times Bigger Than Saudi Arabia’s - Contrarian Stock Market Investing News - Featuring Bargain Stocks
I give in kind Bar Sinister, no more and no less.
"The facts"... I'm still waiting to see your facts. Currently, you've offered personal opinion that is engineered to represent "your" extreme position while simultaneously ignoring many other elements that submarine your opinion.
You are correct about the kool-aid reference.
Seriously?
Did you not notice how the industry reacted to the mere threat of royalty increases?
Let me help you out on this one... Land sales dropped dramatically and immediately. In case you aren't aware, land sales are an absolute precursor to any exploration development and production... No land sales means no future activity.
That said, I guess that there was no distortion, was there?
(N.B.: In the event that your belief is that the companies would shut-in all their wells, production or oil sands operations and physically leave - these people aren't stupid; they will finish their existing plays but refrain from reinvestment in that jurisdiction)
Extremely revealing.... Canada (Alberta), Argentine and Norway are magically grouped with nations that have no meaningful production (ie. in the same ball park as the 3 aforementioned) or are ruled by gvts that have nothing in common (no where near in fact) with Canada, Argentina or Norway.
On that note, I had specifically mentioned that the oil companies assess the bottom-line economics that includes all costs. The oil plays in Norway are all (mostly) offshore. All the costs associated with exploiting that resource are magnified significantly. That said, the Norwegian gvt had to develop a royalty structure that would not only attract companies to develop the resource, but they also had to compete with investment/resource plays globally.
First, that was my suggestion to you.
I hope that your belief that AB's rates trail all others is based on the royalty chart you referred to earlier.
I'd suggest that you compare rates in North American jurisdictions (separated by offshore & conventional) that represent comparable production or estimated reserves first (BC, Sask, CA, LA, OK, TX, etc). Pending that review, compare the applicable (combined) tax rates and lastly gvt stability.
I'm still waiting to review the myriad of propoganda that you refer to... So far, all you can point to is the royalty example, which I believe I have offered a very reasonable rebuttal.
So, let's hear it.... All the propoganda message that are being plied by the industry.
Interesting article... I was especially interested in the commentary that mentioned (ever so fleeting) that the IMF was called in to provide emergency financing to the nation and restructure it's programs.
As a general statement, the IMF doesn't (generally) intervene for those nations that Utopic and of strong economic health... That is what I found conspicuously lacking in the article; AB does not require the services of the IMF.
I also noticed that the article also ignored the international court case going on between the Chavez gvt and ConnocoPhillips (I believe). Chavez arbitrarily "nationalized" some of CP's assets. Further, the international investment has all but dried up adn teh big Orinoco play is standing idle
Interesting article
I'm not going to waste any more time on your BS. There are enough rippers trying to protect their fat take from this province. I can only hope for another, not conservative Government.
It is time for you to come up with something that can refute the chart I presented comparing international tax rates on oil.
You may not know this, but Canada and Alberta are one of the few places on the planet that allow large foreign companies to assume exclusive ownership over a key and highly lucrative resource like oil.
Alberta and Canada do not get as much revenue from Big Oil as they could. In spite of your efforts to obscure the issue you have yet to come up with anything. In your previous post you challenged me to come up with some evidence. I did that and in return challenged you to come up with evidence that refuted mine. I am still waiting.
I am beginning to think you may be correct. I was hoping for intelligent discussion, but more and more I am running into thinly veiled insults where CM is concerned. It appears that having run out of sound arguments he is resorting the the usual tactic of those defending a weak position.
This had to receive a comment:
The price of oil tanked; oil production was down not just in Alberta but around the world! There was new shallow well action in the Shale in Saskatchewan. Drilling migrated there and to the New shale in BC.
When this was happening, Alberta's royalty was at 16% Canadian dollars and both the other provinces was based at 30% US dollars.
I'm telling you the royalty regime had absolutely nothing to do with the downturn in oil drilling.
And, as to the frequency of holes directional drilling now takes place over straight line drilling. That means one hole drilled now replaced 5 or 10 holes drilled in straight line. Consequently a number count of holes drilled means nothing.
To make Alberta appear busy came the deal I talked of in the original post; still a new subsidy that allows drilling deep wells to pay sufficiently that oil does not have to be produced from them.
Well, CN, perhaps your comments might make more sense if you just tell me what oil company you work for;
at least then I will understand your motive in defending Big Oil.
And no, I am not going to provide any more evidence. Not when you have been unable to refute the evidence I have already supplied.
My contention is that large transnational oil companies in Alberta have been are are getting an easy ride. I have repeated this point several times and provided links to information supporting that claim. There is nothing in any of your posts to refute that. Unless you can come up with something new please stop wasting my time.
What have you provided?... Are you speaking of the comparison of AB royalty rates with global giants in the industry like Trinidad/Tobago?
I am saddened by the fact that you cannot read graphs. But just to help you out I will list a few of the countries in the graph I provided and I will link the graph again.
I believe that Norway, Russia, Venezuela, and Indonesia amount to a bit more than Trinidad and Tobago.
And I am not interested in comparing other areas of the world that have sold out to the interests of Big Oil, such as the various oil producing states in the US.
It is unfortunate that Alberta has chosen to follow in their footsteps. And of course, I am not listing the states that own 100% of their own oil resources, something that Canada would have been wise to consider instead of letting foreign transnationals do it for us.
Just out of curiosity, how do you feel about the one percent tax paid by oil sands developers?
CM, I think that we are going to have to agree to disagree on this topic.
Nothing you have shown me in any way convinces me that Big Oil in Canada is paying its fair share of taxes.
In fact your posts are becoming less and less rational and based more an more upon snide comments that contribute nothing to the topic.
It is worth remembering that if oil companies do not pay their fair share of taxes then everyone else must end up paying tax for them.
The oil royalty in the US is pretty much set by the Rupublicans and as you are aware Obama is tasking to increase them.
Curious, the Nevada royalty was at 19% the same as Alberta was and, the people there figure they are getting skinned too and want an increase.
Alberta has not increased its spending since 1986. All the funds that should have gone to annual increases went instead to the oil royalty reduction.
There is no way in hell you will ever convince me Alberta is not the lowest royalty in the world and that Albertans are subsidizing oil; not the other way around.
Your arguments are shallow yet, frustrating and elusive. I would hope following readers can see through them.
Gotcha... So, it's only the Conservatives and the Republicans that don't subscribe to generating a fair return, is it?
The Conservatives and the Republicans are entrenched in the Industry first; trickle down policy. Very little comes down.
So you're saying that AB is charging only 19%, is that right?
No! Alberta (Auditor General Dunn) pointed out to the Conservatives they did not meet their stated target of 19%. Considering the 48 cents a barrel we get for the crude that is going to upgraders we are more likely down to 8 or 9%
Nonsense..... Prove it?
This was a published article in the Edmonton Journal about a month ago. Kevan Taft, an economist, coupled with the University of Alberta pointed this out in detail.
They were answered almost directly by the Conservatives who said that Mr. Taft was the person who said spending had to be controlled.
I'm not going to play your prove it games. You are stirring; nothing else.
Like I've tried with Bar Sinister. Couple the royalty structure with the overall existing tax regime and then tell me all about not getting "fair share".. What is 'a fair share" cyberclark? To date, neither you nor Bar Sinister is capable of answering that very basic question.. Sure, I've given you some things to think about, but as they are inconvenient and damaging to your intangible argument, they are summarily dismissed.
Guys like you absolutely rely on analyzing this issue in a vacuum selecting only very specific information that is no where near representative of the overall contributions made by oil/gas companies... You see a number and analyze it in isolation assuming that this solitary number is representative of all factors.
Such BS! Alberta has the lowest royalty in the world; bar none! That is worth while paying attention to and your bubble explanations just won't make it any better. This is the most secretive government on the map; Harper is moving in that direction.