Tyrannosaurus RalphWith the price of oil hovering in the mid-$60's, the oil-rich Province of Alberta has become suddenly wealthy and powerful. The Premier, Ralph Klein, decided to 'give back' roughly a third of this year's budgetary surplus, in the form of a one-time rebate to Alberta residents. The program disbursed $1.4 billion dollars and cost about $10 million (less than 1%) to administer.
Satirical Cheque Series: Other Provinces in Canada are jealous about Alberta's bright future, fueled by oil sands and the one-time resource rebate.
As long as energy prices remain high, Alberta stands to collect a windfall of royalties and taxes on non-renewable resources. Alberta already boasts zero Provincial debt, comparatively low taxes and a budget surplus. During 2004-2005, Alberta took in $9.74 billion dollars in non-renewable energy royalties and that number will likely continue to grow.
The 2005 budget surplus is estimated to be approximately $6 billion dollars, though the exact amount won't be available until the final audit in June. Alberta is familiar with the boom and bust related to the oil industry (been there, done that). So they took a third of this years surplus and smartly invested it, so that it will generate future revenues. Another third went to Provencial projects (e.g., building new schools, health centers and roadways).
Not everyone in Canada happy about Alberta's future, or the rebate checks, especially those living in the east. An Ottawa, Ontario-based satire website called "The Hammer", calls the prosperity checks "Screw You, Rest of Canada Cheques", offering a hypothetical check series that Alberta's Premier, Ralph Klein, might have used.
But the U.S. isn't the only country wooing Alberta for its petroleum. China, that vast economic communist bear is just waking up and has a voracious appetite for energy. Venuzuela has broken ties with the U.S. and is, instead, shipping oil to China. China is investing roughly $2 billion to build a pipeline from Alberta, across the Canadian Rockies, to British Columbia, so that it may tanker Albertan oil in an attempt to satsify its energy needs.
Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to set record highs for the consumption of petroleum. In December of last year, roughly 22.156 million barrels of petroleum were consumed. Imports account for over 60% of the petroleum used by Americans and already, Canada provides more petroleum products to America than any other country. U.S. consumption shows no sign of abating and estimates put consumption in the year 2015 at roughly 24 million barrels per day.
http://randsco.com/index.php/2006/02/05/Roaring_Dinosaurs-Prosperous_Alberta
