Royalties and tax credits for B.C.’s oil and gas industry are outdated, piecemeal, complex, and don’t provide the societal benefits that they should, according to an independent assessment by two public policy and energy experts commissioned by the B.C. government to review its oil and gas royalty structure.

But rather than try to tinker with the system – simply eliminating B.C.’s controversial deep well credit, for example – the assessment suggests a complete overhaul of the way the natural gas industry is taxed, and points to Alberta’s revised system as an example worth considering.

The assessment, released today, was conducted by two noted academics – Nancy Olewiler, a public policy professor at Simon Fraser University, and Jennifer Winter, associate professor of economics and scientific director of the energy and environmental policy research at the University of Calgary.

Their assessment will form the foundation for a public review of B.C.’s royalty and tax structure oil and gas that B.C.’s ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation has launched…read more.