Alberta’s provincial government has pledged to extend one program that benefits the oil and gas industry but will discontinue several other initiatives.
According to Energy Minister Sonya Savage and Associate Minister of Natural Gas Dale Nally, the administration will continue to support companies seeking to diversify feedstocks for petrochemical production. The feedstock diversification program makes royalty credits available to large-scale, privately-owned facilities that turn propane, methane, or ethane into plastics, fertilizers, and fabrics.
Meanwhile, the provincial government will put an end to its partial upgrading program, which was designed to support the chemical processing of locally produced bitumen into a synthetic crude oil that can be transported by pipeline. It cited financial reasons for this move, saying that the program would “carry a higher financial risk to government and ultimately to Albertans.”
Additionally, Alberta will cancel its petrochemical feedstock infrastructure program, but it will not extend its request for proposals on refinery projects.