Alberta’s government is moving ahead with plans to allow oil sands producers to pay their royalties in bitumen, letting it turn around and sell those barrels in a major expansion of the government’s role in the market.
The Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission will sell the volumes it collects to “spur private sector investments,” according to a government release. The province’s so-called royalties in kind program currently only applies to conventional oil.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with global oil and petrochemical companies to discuss the sale of 2 million barrels a month of heavy crude through the APMC.
“This will give government the ability to seek new deals on Alberta’s energy resources internationally, making the province one of the largest global heavy oil market players and maximizing the return for Albertans,” the government said.
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