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Last updateFri, 29 Nov 2024 4pm

Natural gas royalty rate positive change says industry


    Recent changes to the royalty structure for natural gas may help the industry.
    On Thursday, May 27, the government unveiled the Emerging Resources and Technologies Initiative. This includes new royalty rates to encourage exploration development and production from deeper, higher cost natural gas wells, coal bed methane projects, shale gas and horizontal oil and gas wells.
    “This initiative to unlock Alberta’s unconventional resources offers the potential for decades of employment and community benefits” said Energy Minister Ron Liepert. “The final adjustments to royalty formulas will help industry make important investment decisions for the fall and winter drilling season and maintain Alberta as a competitive jurisdiction for investment.”
    Carol Howes, media relations advisor for Encana said overall it appears to be a positive step.
    “This initiatives will go a long way in helping offset a number of factors that impact Alberta and a lot of the plays in Canada that are a little more expensive to operate here in Canada,” she said. “Obviously we are competing against a number of plays in North America. We don’t have as much infrastructure and we have further to go transportation wise, and all kinds of things. This will make plays in Alberta and Canada generally, more competitive.”
    A substantial amount of Encana’s developments in and around Drumheller are extracting coal bed methane. However, because much of the development in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation is on fee lands, wholly owned by Encana, the changes in royalty rates do not apply. Encana pays mineral tax on those lands.
    “In terms of specifics around Drumheller it is a little early to determine specifically on how it is going to impact various areas,” said Howes. “That will come through over the next months and the coming year or two in terms of its affects specifically.”
    She says these changes may stimulate a company to begin exploration in the Shale gas industry.
    “Alberta doesn’t really have a shale gas development yet,” she said. “This may spawn development in this area.  It is pretty new area for a lot of companies… but I think the opportunity to create a shale as an industry is something companies may start to look at.”
    The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP )are also positive about the changes.
    “The new fiscal details are particularly positive for the competitiveness of Alberta’s natural gas and will enhance the industry’s ability to strengthen the economy and create jobs for Albertans,” said CAPP president David Collyer. “On the oil side, changes are not as significant. We are encouraged by the broader application of the lower up-front royalty rate, which will stimulate new oil drilling activity.”

Drumheller gets long awaited boat launch

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    Boating enthusiasts will rejoice to hear Drumheller now has a boat launch at the Newcastle Beach area.
    During the opening ceremony, which took place on Tuesday, June 1, Cindy Clark, Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce president, explained the need for a boat launch was brought to the Chamber’s attention last year by Councillor Terry Yemen. 
    The Chamber felt it was necessary for the town, not only for the Fire Department to enable them to quickly deploy their rescue boat, but also for residents and visitors to fully enjoy one of Drumheller’s top assets, the Red Deer River.    
    They partnered with the Town of Drumheller, Encana and the Fire Department to complete the project and the boat launch is now open for public use.
    Terry Yemen, a boating enthusiast himself, told inSide Drumheller he was aware there was a long standing issue for the Fire Department to have a point for rapid deployment of the first responders and that some boaters pass by the town of Drumheller due to the lack of a boat launch facility.
    “So I thought from a recreational and commercial tourism point of view, it would be an asset, too, to have a boat launch,” said Yemen, adding the river was very underutilized, although it was a top tourist attraction and needed promotion to be used to its full potential.
    The boat launch is located west of Newcastle Beach, close to recreational parking. Yemen explained this section of the river is an area where there is constantly three feet of water, making it a good place for boat deployment and it is town land so there won’t be any access issues. It is also far west of the beach so as not to interfere with beach users.
    First to use the new boat launch was the Fire Department who deployed their search and rescue Zodiak during the opening ceremony.

Community facility tender closing date pushed back


    The Town of Drumheller has extended the closing date for tenders for the construction of the Badlands Community Facility.
    The Town put out a request for tenders on Friday, May 7 with a closing date of Tuesday, June 1. It has since amended the date to now close on Tuesday, June 8.
    Ray Telford, communications officer for The Town of Drumheller explains the extension is due to the inability of structural steel providers of the girder truss system to have questions answered by the structural engineers within the tender time frame.
    “It is just going to take a little longer to answer those questions,” said Telford.
    The posting for the tenders have gone through the Alberta Purchasing Connection and the Alberta CoolNet to meet the TILMA requirements. The postings also went to the Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat Construction Associations.
    On the Alberta Purchasing Connection website there is a list of 11 general contractors that have expressed interest in the project as well as a number of subcontractors.

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