Alberta unveils “lost revenue counter” to highlight lack of pipelines
Posted Nov 14, 2018 1:20 pm.
Last Updated Nov 14, 2018 7:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
EDMONTON (660 NEWS) – The Alberta government has launched a new tool to illustrate how much revenue Canada is losing due to land-locked resources.
The “real-time, lost-revenue counter” was unveiled Wednesday morning.
Economic Minister Deron Bilous said the counter tracks how much Canadians are losing because there are limited markets for Alberta’s oil and gas exports.
“Canadians have lost out on $6 billion and counting since the federal court ruling against the Trans Mountain Pipeline on Aug. 30,” Bilous said.
Bilous said the counter will be displayed online and in public locations like Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
The government estimates the discount caused by pipeline bottlenecks means Alberta is losing more than $55,000 each minute, or about $80 million per day.
The figure is calculated with methodology used by Scotiabank, and has been revised based on the current $45-per-barrel difference between Western Canada Select (WCS) and benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI).
Bilous said that is money that could have gone towards infrastructure, like roads, schools and hospitals.
