“Why now?” – PSAC concerned over multiple reviews during AB downturn
Posted Nov 4, 2015 6:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The president and CEO of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada says there’s a sense of oilpatch workers feeling overwhelmed.
PSAC released its drilling forecast for 2016 Tuesday, projecting a three per cent decrease in activity.
This after 2015 marked a 50 per cent decrease in five-year averages of activity.
Marc Salkeld said the problem is exascerbated by a new government getting used to power, a royalty review and climate change policy development.
“It’s just like why now?” he said. “This adds another level of uncertainty for investors, like there’s of investors out there waiting to put money into the services sector, not just the producers side, but the services side and this is another factor that’s holding back that investment decision.”
PSAC officials have met with the royalty review panel and have submitted a paper to on climate change review.
“We’re really pleased with the effort the panel is going through this time vs last, it’s a huge effort on their part,” he said. “But what’s going to come of it?”
Salkeld points out PSAC is bipartisan, but it is a lot to juggle.
“We don’t need all this other stuff, we’ve got it and we’ll deal with it and we’ll support the government and provide them the information that they need in order to make decisions, but it does not help the industry,” he said.
He pointed out next year’s forecast means residents will not be looking for work in the oilpatch, because there simply won’t be opportunities.
“It’s bad,” he said. “I think the average person gets it.”
In response Wednesday, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said the climate and royalty reviews involve robust representation from oil and gas industry representatives.
“Their concerns are heard and you will see that they are being balanced and that there is a great deal of attention paid, particularly to the current situation within which the oil and gas industry finds itself,” she said.
She added however that the issue of uncertainty has to stay in context.
“The price of oil dropped 40 or 50 per cent in the space of about six months, that is uncertainty, that is also the nature of the industry,” she said. “Nothing that this government has been talking about doing comes anywhere close to having that level or quantity of impact.”
Notley added it’s the government’s responsibility to make sure environmental and royalty polices are modernized.
“It would irresponsible for us on behalf of Albertans to insist that we hold onto a royalty regime that was developed 10 years ago, that the industry has long since moved past,” she said.
