Tar Sands not suitable for Carbon Storage program

What Alberta is trying has not been tried anywhere else in the world. On paper at least it should work. They are not filling oil caverns with it they plan on putting into the deep water aquifer below these caverns which is  not potable; poison.  However all the lower aquifers are not bad!  A few are flowing fresh drinking water and this Government fails to distinguish this.

These aquifers are under bedrock. The Carbon dioxide when pumped down should go super-critical that is, a dense liquid nearly a solid. In theory at least, carbon would be absorbed into the bedrocks to eventually make oil again. Throughout it is in a form that can be metered and measured.

To collect carbon in sufficient quantity takes a coal burn or similar closed environment operation.
In North Dakota they are taking coal, putting it into a kiln type container, heating it and adding a bit of oxygen. In this new air mix a flash fire is ignited and takes care of all the other air components leaving behind pure carbon dioxide.

The continued clean burning of the coal is used to generate steam for use in electricity. What is left behind is super clean and consistent ash suitable for other applications.

In this case the pure CO2 taken off is piped to Saskatchewan who uses it as a solvent to scrub oil off shale. They do not know how much carbon dioxide stays down there or how much is absorbed into the oil. Effervescent oil is a possibility.

On the plus side Alberta's plan can be audited. However, anything to do with an audible quantity in this province will probably end up in a General Accounts of Carbon shell outs. Scary!

There is about 5.1 billion dollars coming in now on royalty. Of this the Government has said 2 billion was going to Carbon storage. If it works in my mind it is worth it.

There is nothing in this scenario that allows free carbon capture such as that pumped out of machines or is released from opening the ground.

I can however see an application where the facilities that the gas that is used to heat the water for their process could be enclosed and that the gas affluent carbon dioxide may, just may be captured.

In all there are more questions than answers and the oil companies and this Government's secrecy does not make any of it easier to understand. Mostly they are so accustomed to lying after 27 years of practice they just find it easiest to do.

Alberta Conservatives mishandle the economy

The Alberta Conservatives has mishandled this economy to a point it is almost in the ground!

When they bundled all the lies into the New Oil Regime they took every precaution to keep the deep discounts given to the oil companies away from the voting public. A 50 dollar barrel of oil this year pays the oil companies the same as 58 dollars last year.

This makes Alberta oil the best deal on the planet for the people chasing oil stock. Yet, because of their secrecy these same stock chasers are trashing Alberta as being a bad place to invest in.

They ride their pessimism on a “New Oil Regime” that takes away the onetime windfall (royalty at 19%) and puts it up to 25%, where it was when all this crap started.

They are fighting hard to keep the windfall figures in place.

Keep in mind BC Royalty tier 3 returns 34% to BC. But, none of the bad press is spent on BC.

This windfall program has of 19% and Canadian exchange rates have turned 10 billions of dollars into the oil coffers over the past year and a half. That is what Alberta is short now!

Now, Iris Evans declared the economic slowdown within two years and suggested Wild Rose Country is entering a period of "figuring out what you can do without."

I think the first thing, is this Government!

Next, she tells us” $6.5 billion from the projected surplus in the past three months alone, leaving an annual windfall of $2 billion.”

Their policies have shorted this province ten billion dollars! Where does she get off calling the residual 2 billion dollars a windfall? It is a travisty!

Health Minister Ron Liepert said the public should prepare for some difficult decisions ahead on health care.

Ron Liepert’s claim to fame is a long list of privatization moves in industry. It is simply what he does.
He is using this self made conservative disaster as an excuse to cut services and will rely on the Capital Health work done on what to reinsure on health care. With a likeminded government in Ottawa he should not get much resistance.

"My hunch is that Alberta has seen its last boom," Liberal Leader Kevin Taft predicted Friday

This, coming from a guy who sat out the last election, let this new deal oil fiasco blow by without any kind of a challenge and hasn’t offered anything but mind dead preditions since. I can live without his comment.

McCormick (Political Science Lethbridge) agrees “It's directed at universities, hospitals, school boards and government employees who are thinking about salary negotiations coming up -- that's who they are talking to," he said. "They are trying to get rid of boom-talk and boom-mentality now."

.We are being ruled as opposed to governed. Decisions that affect our lives and the lives of our children are being made in secret and false information is being put forward. This crew, now beleaguered is moving to legislate still more decisions into secrecy

This Government in concert with the oil companies is playing a very dangerous game. Some 86% of the world’s oil is nationalized. That leaves only 14% in the hands of private companies. If oil companies were fair or even thinking for that matter, it would be otherwise.

If Jack Layton or Brian Mason come forward on a platform to nationalize the oil industry in this province they would probably get a majority.

Perhaps now, some of you will chose to get off your butts and vote. It is possible to have an Obama style win in Alberta!

In the US the Fed is trying to give out contracts to drill in Colorado in the Shale basin. To make their deal plausable they are saying oil will be 200 dollars US a barrel in about 10 years. Pie in the sky stuff, American style. They are offering a 2% royalty for 5 years after production starts then go up to a maximum of 15% there after.

Any number of people are saying this is a Republican move to shackle Obama in setting decent royalty rates. Sounds a lot like Alberta tactic.

Shale is more difficult to drill and will probably return less oil at a lower rate of flow than will a conventional well. There simply is not enough money in oil right now to go ahead with this.

Alberta Royalty - A brief comparison.

Excerpt from a CBC discussion.
The royalty agreements have been changed as is the Governments right to change them. In every case they have been changed to the advantage of the oil companies.

This "new deal" is no different. The new regime takes the royalty from the discounted 19% back up to 25% which was the original agreement. In the interim the oil companies have pocketed an additional 10 billions of dollars! Alberta, ready to curtail programs, is short that same amount.

The biggest give away, the change in currency from US to Canadian is massive amounting millions per day going into oil coffers that should ritely be in Alberta pockets.

BC's royalty rate is 34% so it is safe to assume that these oil companies are not running for lower royalty.

It is to be noted people on both sides of the royalty issue are saying that the Alberta Conservatives are basically inept and should be replaced.

Honesty and Transparency didn't work-Try secret!

Honesty and transparency Mr. Knight speaks of didn't work out so well so now, they are going to legislate it as secret deals.

When these people changed the royalty fund to Canadian dollars from US sometime after September of 07, they effectively cut our royalty rates in half.

These guys will never change! Time to get rid of them.

Syncrude new deal is no deal at all!

The whole announcement is made up of rubber numbers; more lies and misdirection’s.
The so called agreement restores the 19% to the original of 25%

Syncrude’s output is 305,000 barrels per day which returns $16,436,450 per day US dollars

Syncrude pays 19% Canadian Royalty which returns $2,560,799 in royalty.
Syncrude will pay the original 25% which is $3,369,472 at the start of the new year.

This produces a difference between 19 and 25% in Canadian Dollars of $808,673 per day or, $295,165,769 per year.

In order for this so called new deal to return 975 millions of dollars the price of oil would have to be 150.00 per barrel!

Wth all these numbers, we are still loosing 16% on exchange of which there is no effort to get it back. In fact we loose $787,108,718 on exchange alone. This is the closest figure to the numbers that Eddie is throwing out.

Stelmach is lying through his teeth. We should be asking why!

Alberta' new oil regime is a lie!

Right click to save to your desktop:

Iris Evans is about to tell us our health care and service programs are going to be cut. This, as I had predicted earlier. Because of their give away, the Alberta treasury is presently short some 10 billion dollars of revenue having given it away to the oil companies. This drain is continuing at a rate of 4 billion dollars a year. Oil gets more new cash from this new deal than does the Alberta Budget!

As the above document outlines the funds on tar sands oil is now in Canadian Dollars. The two economies are said to be equal when the Canadian dollar is at 85 cents. Prior to the last election (Some time after Sept 20,2007) the currency traded was in US dollars! Mel Knight in still another misguided statement led Albertans to believe there was more royalty coming into the province.

It wasn't until after he was busted that the embolden Canadian $ showed up. Prior to that time the Canadian funds was in 6pt aerial; nearly invisible.

As it stands, we are loosing 16% on each barrel of oil. Do you see anything in this document that gives Alberta 16% ? No, you don't in fact at 120 dollars per barrel the oil companies are still paying 7% less than they were before Alberta gave away the farm.

Recently a BC official spoke in Alberta saying he was not going to go into the same energy regime as Alberta. What wasn't said is that BC are charging more than Alberta and have no intentions of reducing the royalty!

I don't know how long Albertans are going to put up with these lies and misrepresentations but when it becomes this blatant I would hope it is not for long!

Health Statistics Pure and Simple by Stats Can.

The public system is still less expensive than is the private US system! It is worthwhile to note the US system is now making moves towards the Canadian system.

The health care figures are skewed because they are totaled and include health care expenditures by insurance companies plus the premiums paid by individuals and companies.

Depreciation on hospitals and properties are included but capital appreciation is not. When Alberta sells a 100 million dollar hospital for a buck, the thing shows as a loss of a 100 million.

A drug hot spot is easier to target on both sides but neither are able to produce a clear picture.

The medical schools are not friendly towards Canadians because the universities make more money bringing in students from out of country. A one point drop in a starter course in your second year will prevent you from entering medical school even though your MCAT is in the top 1 or 2% of humanity! Chairs left open for aboriginal people regardless of their scores is a good thing for the people but, who wants to turn your life over to them when they become physicians?
Finally, the aging population thing was a stat put out in the 1950s! It was a projection that those who had an interest in privatizing medicine took up. In fact, it never came to pass! The projections never came close! The seniors by and large are in better shape than the younger set and even these dolts seem to be catching on. Obesity is a bad thing. It is a constant source of discontent and effort by a large number of us. My body fat is runs about 17% which is too high but, damned if I can pass up the bagel in the morning.

A lot of things in our system sucks! You have voted in wall to wall Conservatives who are pushing us towards a private system by the manipulation of budgets. This what most of these numbers are about.

Alberta stonewalls royialty information

Alberta royalty information is to be kept secret for 5 years time.

The Extreme Alberta Conservatives have followed a plan that reduces Alberta’s take on royalty to match what they figure the province needs rather than what is ours. Their needs are askew; a list is patterned after their own hawkish ideals which say desperation is okay for seniors and the less fortunate. Kids are not chattel; they can't make you any money.

Alberta has more private schools than any other province. Our kids take their tax credit to school when they enroll and when you decide to change school you can't find one because the tax credit stays where they first arrived.

A dozen more schools are being built under the 3P scheme built and financed privately which the Government leases back. Now you have a system where the names on the lease can be changed to a private school and the tax credit you present can be eliminated through attrition while the actual costs of the school are picked up by you personally.

You are looking towards the end of the public school system!

Costs for infrastructure and social programs have been downloaded onto the cities and communities to work however they can. This was coupled with the Electrical power, an endless cash grab, which can be used to pay for the shortfalls. (A one cent increase in power returns multi billions to the owners annually) ‘More money for royalty reduction.

Now, they are doing the same thing with the provincial water supplies. First sell the allotments, then put it in pipes then charge for it. Having already sold or assigned most of the water allotments the prices for the water will be included in the pipeline (probably metered) charges.

You do not own the water in your dug outs, the water in your wells and/or your snow rain catchments. More revenue for the province out of your pockets, lower goes the royalty; this time figures kept secret.

All the monies made from income taxes, empty container returns and user fees are put into their General Revenue account along with the monies taken through oil royalty.

The Heritage Trust Fund started out to be an appreciating fund of reinvested revenues held in the hands of Alberta Treasury expected to be 100 billion plus by this time, was robbed over the years with the profits from the investments taken out and added to the General Revenues and used to reduce the oil royalty taken.

Now, it is in the hands of an Alberta private company Iris Evans has put her personal stamp on it saying it will be held to a 4.5% increase per year. All those millions above the 4.5% will be sucked off and put into the General Revenues and used to reduce royalties of the future – now to be kept secret.

As Brian Mason of the NDP says ‘They have more secrets than the KGB”

The tar sands companies have no agreements about who is to pay for the dismantling of their plants or who is to clean up. This will fall to Alberta who, will not have the money to cover it. Companies are being paid to extract resource from this province!

Every election they have won since Peter Lougheed left has been won on outright lies and misdirection. They have not show up at any public debates for the last two elections and are not going to show up for the next election.

There is a new political party in Alberta -a Small C; small L which is exactly what the voter wants in this province, a real alternative. When you get the chance, use it!

Alberta should check viability of Insurance Companies

In the last recession insurance companies were caught very short in their reserves because of stock manipulations. Some were insolvent. This lead to huge insurance rate increases "to make up the loss" These increases never came off after the losses were made up.
How are we placed now?

Alberta announces no funds to complete projects!

Tonight on TV Iris Evans, Minster tells the media Alberta does not have enough money to continue with all the projects marked to go! She sites the world recession as being the reason.

1. Mel Knight and company reduce the royalty from 25% down to 19% a loss of 6%
2.When the two currencies were at par, they changed the contractual funds in regards to royalty from US = 100% to Canadian = 84% a further loss of 16%
Alberta production effected: 1.5 million barrels per day.
The result is more than 10 billions of dollars lost to the Alberta Treasury.
Why?
Mr. Knight is reported to have explained it was done to give the oil companies a break with a view to helping them to adjust to the new royalty framework.

The new royalty framework is designed so it will not come into effect until some time in the next century.

Mr. Knight also explained Alberta is getting enough money from income tax to offset this figure.
Consider a 60 dollar barrel of oil is paying the oil companies the same amount of cash as a 74.00 barrel of oil did last year.

This is still another example of the irresponsible lack of management this Government continues to show.
And, the Liberals slept through the whole thing the last election. Think about it the next election!

Oil price is up 15 to 20% thanks to Alberta Taxpayers

In time with the last election and par currency with the US, Alberta changed the funds for pricing on all Alberta’s petroleum agreements to Canadian dollars away from US dollars.

This change has added an additional 15 to 20% onto the revenue the oil companies are receiving on the resources.

Using today’s figures tar sands only; natural gas and conventional oil excluded.
1.5 million Barrels of tar sands productions would return $98,550,000 per day total US dollars. The gross take in Canadian Dollars is $84,989,520

The Tar sands rates are now 19% for royalty down 6% from the 25% original agreement.

Alberta now receives only $16,148,008 Canadian.
At the original 25% that would be $21,247,380 per day

Oil companies are now brining in 5 million dollars a day more than what they were a year ago. Alberta treasury is down by this same amount.

Considering the tar sands are profitable at 27.50 per barrel US their business seems to be a good one to be in.

I can’t say the same thing for the Alberta Conservatives.

Alberta; Why I take the time!

I do appreciate the inquiries by the various power companies, some not on this continent. I will continue to respond to direct emails placed to me through this site.

In answer to most questions:
You can thank Mr. Ed Stelmach and the Conservative party for my efforts. The fix is within their grasp. It is them, not me who are choosing the poison.

The Alberta Conservatives conspired with Ottawa and succeeded in shutting down a company I owned, The Dangerous Goods Training Centre. In doing so they effectively eliminated all the pension monies that went into the start up of that company. I have told them, when they make that money back to me, I will get off their case and, not until.

I am not evangelical!