Alberta falls short in attracting oil investment: study
Posted Nov 14, 2019 12:03 pm.
Last Updated Nov 14, 2019 12:04 pm.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – It is more bad news for Alberta’s struggling oil patch.
A new study from right-wing think tank The Fraser Institute ranks Alberta 16th in North America for investment attractiveness.
The study looked at 20 jurisdictions in North America, including 15 states and five provinces.
Texas was ranked number one with Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming and the Gulf of Mexico rounding out the top five.
Senior policy analyst Ashley Stedman says 80 per cent of respondents said uncertain environmental regulations are a deterrent to investing in Alberta.
“Overall, what we’re trying to demonstrate here is that policymakers must be aware of the impact that their decisions have on attracting or deterring valuable investment dollars. Really, what we’re seeing right now is that Canadian provinces are less attractive for oil and gas investment compared to U.S. jurisdictions. This is a significant problem with uncompetitive policies north of the border that governments need to pay attention to.”
On top of that, 65 per cent of respondents said regulatory duplication and inconsistencies were other deterrents for investors.
Saskatchewan was the highest-ranked Canadian province in the study at 13th. The bottom two regions for attracting investment were British Columbia and Colorado.
