Friday, December 28, 2012

Alberta and BC plans to ship LNG are an expensive farce.

Five years ago, the Price of Natural gas was 15.00 per Gj.  US Today it is 3 dollars and falling. There is no recovery in sight. For this reason ENMAX set about building an electrical  generating facility in Calgary, gas operated.
During this 15 dollar a GJ time, there was a great deal of gas and even more markets!  Yet, we were told that shipping LNG was not profitable. 
The Petroleum Industry is saying they can make a few cents at 2.34 US per GJ only if  the taxpayer of these provinces pay for all the infrastructure and much of the overhead expense.  Gas is expected to drop to 2.50 or lower this summer!
Alberta's  conventional oil has peaked! It is expected to be half of what it is today within 5 years.
Between the royal years of high gas and oil prices we have not one cent to show as a province. Instead, the Conservative Government has siphoned off our Heritage Trust fund taking more than 70 billion dollars from it and  has been using municipal pension funds for Government financing; has reduced our oil royalty to zero and has been discounting our oil on the market at a flat 30% off!  for the past 15 years.
The only chance we have is in a real opposition party to take over! The Wild Rose party are part of the problem along with the Liberals in BC.  The Liberals, are entirely in tune with the Conservatives and the Republicans in the US.  My guess is it is the US Republicans who are calling the shots.  
Here is your breakdown of the Political Parties in this province!

The Conservatives are following the plan laid down by Ralph Klein. They haven't deviated from it at all, regardless of who stands up as premier! This is why their current tour asking public opinion about health care is worth nothing andwill change nothing; it never has.   

The Wild Rose Party was/is a small right wing group of extremists who caught the Oil Industry eye. Harper supported them totally throwing his seasoned election types into the WRP as managers during the elections.
The Wild Rose have worked on their extreme positions for years constantly deluding the people in the LDS church prevalent across southern Alberta. Their cornerstone is doing away with the Balance of payments program and they deliberately ignore Alberta's experience with the program. Their argument is now and always has been "the oil belongs to the oil companies; left wing types are trying to take it away"
Alberta received equalization payments until 1947 and again from 1957 to 1965. We got our share of the program when we needed it! It is a Canadian solution so both Harper and the WRP want to end it.
The Wild Rose Party muddies the water by saying the equalization payments were not started until years later. That in itself is true but, this does not change the fact Alberta survived on payments from Ottawa for a great many years before they named it Equalization payments .
They also sight the Chase Manhattan Bank as being the great Canadian Savior by
saving us from the evil eastern banks of the day. One does not have to wonder about their
origins!
Oil and Harper supported them on the net and in finances and bannered them as the Ugly Sister of Conservative politics. It worked! We now have a total circus of nutters for an official opposition.
The Alberta Party is still lurking in the background having no policy or platforms saying they will be whatever Albertans want them to be. Always taking studies and never committing. They too have the interest of the oil industry and will be left extremists depending on what is needed to destabilize the vote in Alberta.
As in no time before us, it is imperative the Liberals and the NDP start working together! A vote for the Alberta Party is beyond uniformed; it is dangerous!
Albertans are led to believe a change in Government will damage their employment and careers. Nothing could be further from the truth!
With our additional 42 billions dollars in our economy the employment would be better with far more choices and having a massive support for education and health care.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Alberta's Power line scheme explained


Alberta citizens do not need new power line!  Look around you!  The oi industry needs power lines to export their surplus power to the US.  You may recall Syncrude worrying about getting caught up in a court case in California when the latter was suing suppliers for overcharging electricity.

Foremost exporting power to the US has a jurisdictional hurdle to get over.  If Alberta admits the power is for export the Feds have jurisdiction over what rates are charged and can take revenue from the export.  The whole scenario is being set up to keep the Fed out of the power lines.   This Conservative dance is going to cost you 40 to 80 dollars per household in costs on your electrical bill and industry will pay between 150 and 500.00 on their power bills.

There is no chance of new industry coming to this province having the highest cost of living in North America if not the world!

However, there is exciting new technology in Nuclear Power Plants.  They are small scale, called Micro or Mini plants that produce 1000 megawatts of power.  (Standard Nuclear plants are built in batteries of 2000 megawatts per unit)  Couple this with the enclosure design that recirculates its water in a cooling building and you have a winner.   

This is the future of power generation in the tar sands!  They need to reach the US with their surplus power. And, the Conservative and Wild Rose party want the current consumers to pay for it all.   Minister Ron Liepert acknowledged as much when he said "Nuclear is in Alberta's Future"  when talking of power needs in the oil patch.

Beyond read is the current game:

The conservatives turned the power over to the cities to use as an indirect taxation resource and they are sure going to town on it. The more money the cities need the higher your power will go.  Here is how it effects you immediately:

Recently I changed my ENMAX (Far less expensive than EPCOR and their add-on) account from.08 contract to market at.055 a huge savings for me!

ENMAX did a number of things important to look at.

They increased their market rate to.09 per kWh overnight referring to it as "their offering" rather than the flow through rate. Because I was a long time customer (they said) they offered me my old rate .08 per Kwh or 8.00 per Mwh if I signed back up. Access to the market prices is a total farce and will stay that way until the price of gas actually skyrockets! 

When I jumped to market it was effective at the end of the current billing period. When they I signed back up at.08 it was effective immediately. If nothing else it proves there is no such thing as a flow through rate in this province!

I spent 15 min on the phone with their representative on legalese 
 recording answers to a number of questions about did I know what I was doing. Included in this was a caution out front that ENMAX were not responsible for increases in power line and transmission rates.

There is only 1 cure for this! Get rid of this Government! Don't bother with the WRP they are totally on side.

This Government is planning price increases on your electricity starting immediately in the new year.  They will probably start into increases at 2 cents per Kwh.   If you elect them again you will find you are hit with rapid increases of up to 15 or 20 cents per kwh!  The new DC lines are really; really expensive! 

There are close to 2 million households in Alberta.
For 2 cents raise in power or lines each home will pay 18.00 a month more!
Corporations will rake in 36 million dollars a month!

That is another 4 hundred million dollars a year (for 20 years or more) they are going to rip out of your pockets! You have every right to get definitive answers; settle for nothing less!

After the election you are looking at a 400 million dollar a year rip off for which you receive nothing!

The cure for this? Get rid of them!

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Author required - contact me!

Alberta the details has a history of the Conservative action in Alberta that spreads 10 years.  Because these guys play the same game over and over there are duplicates and/or variations on the same subject.

I want to work with an author, a literary talent into turning this blog into a book prior to the next election.
We will work on profit sharing.

If you want the challenge; contact me!

John

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Conservatives playing the same old game-again.



The original game came forward out of election eve of desperation.  The new game is in play now, trying to convince Albertan’s of industry desperation that won’t allow a claw back on heavily discounted oil.  Between the discounted oil and zero royalty we are paying the industry to take the resource from the province and we make nothing!  Zilch!

The Game:  On the eve of Selmach’s last election there was a big play about no money being collected by Alberta for royalty.  Just before the election was called, they posted the “New Royalty Regime” which is made up on nonsense, never to be used numbers.    On the bottom of the page is one single line, Revenues taken in Canadian Funds.  That little sleight of hand cost Alberta 18% of its royalty at that point in time!  Privately Conservatives laughed at how dumb and gullible Albertans were.

Since Ralph Klein started the raid, our take on royalty has dropped straight line to zero!
http://albertathedetails.blogspot.ca/2012/02/alberta-royalty-explained.html  A full half of our royalty was lost since this document was first released!

After they were elected the world recession hit (again).  The price of oil tanked as there was a glut on the market.  The oil patch having a large number of illegal immigrants working for them who could not collect EI for that very reason, were in trouble. 

Alberta responded with a 7 billion dollar make work program that was to keep these foreign bodies working with some income.  Some workers were catching one weeks work a month under the program.  At no point was the industry asked to account for the 7 billion dollars they drew down!
  
The Government was broke; they didn't have 7 billion dollars however AIMCO was sitting on 70 billion dollars of Alberta Municipal and Government pension funds.  AIMCO declared a 7 billion dollar loss through bad investments while like companies in their industry were showing a 3% profit!

Certainly, AIMCO is not arms length from the Government as stated.  With the loss stipulated, it means there will be no chance of payback.   Municipal pensions were robbed!

Understand this is not a local Alberta or even Canadian event!   Drilling was at a standstill throughout the US and around the world!  They had to be kept busy and the Shale play was the only game in town. 
Saskatchewan was first off the mark to go after the shale.  There were not many crews and equipment that could work the shale at that time.  The headlines in Alberta however ran with ongoing stories the oil rigs were leaving Alberta for Saskatchewan because of the high royalty rates Alberta was charging!
Next into the shale efforts was British Columbia.  Same stories played in the news again;  Because of high royalty rates, Rigs were leaving Alberta for BC!

Ongoing stories (outright lies) running for over a year went a long way to convince the public that there was a grain of truth in what they were saying.    As I have come to see this shoddy event, Alberta taxpayers funded much of the shale drilling in BC and Saskatchewan! Certainly both Provinces had illegal aliens working their oil patch.

Now; today, both royalty and discounted oil are on the agenda.   Based on 100.00 per barrel that is  64 billion dollars a year that should be in Alberta to work with. Instead; it is literally down the tubes.  These are low numbers as Pentane also down the tubes is discounted heavier than the oil.  If oil is at 88.00 per barrel, take 88% of the 64 billion to see what you, your family are being ripped off. It will be low, in Canadian Funds but a good idea. 


Oil Industry and the Conservatives who are working hard for them at the expense of the province have a new con in play.

Now they are running newspapers ragged with stories and items about short funds and cite low oil prices because of discounts.
Alberta sets the prices!  This isn't some big bidding war!  Even it if was a bidding war it would be crooked and totally fixed!     Saskatchewan or BC does not have to discount their oil to sell it!

Three major refineries that feed off Alberta oil shut down for refit.  This shorts Alberta sales of oil by 300,000 barrels per day and that is a lot of revenue even though Alberta taxpayers see no part of it.

The Alberta Conservatives and their shadow the Wild Rose Party (who were thrust into opposition by the oil industry) have absolutely no intention  of changing either the oil discounts or the oil royalty both of which we are entitled.

Suncor, just today released its 4th quarter record production and profits.  They say it costs them 33.00 per barrel to produce the oil.  They also say their output is up to 325,000 barrels per day.   That means their profits are running 325,000 barrels times 55.00 US!   Provincial profits are zero.

If you have a want for a future for your kids; a reasonable care for your parents in their old age; get rid of this Government and the opposition.

Are you afraid of change?  What could possibly be worse than electing a party or parties time and again who  continue to demonstrate they have absolutely no interest in bettering this Province.  They continue to keep enough money in play you and your family can survive if you go into debt.

You deserve more! Take it!  Vote these people and their ongoing lies and games out of office!







Saturday, August 25, 2012

Alberta losses > billion$ due to Conservative policy!

The Conservatives have told us repeatedly we have oil produced second only to Saudi Arabia!  Think of that if you doubt the numbers while looking at deficit budgeting.

Lost royalty $44,700,000 (Cash)
Lost Taxes    $13,981,000 (Cash)
Total Cash Loss to Alberta Taxpayers:   $58,681,000 per day!  21.419 billion dollars US  just this year, 2012!

The  money ripped out of Alberta's economy  in 1 day in millions:
Discounted oil down the pipe:   55,925,000
Lost Royalty and Taxes :              58,681,000  
Total                                              $114,606,000 per day loss!  41.832 billion dollars US per year!
  
As a bonus; a view from Norway who criticize Ireland's Conservatives  who collect nothing for royalty. 

VIDEO: How not to manage oil wealth, with lessons from Norway (good) and Ireland (bad)

The numbers are inside calculated at 25% oil discount and it is actually 30%; over 42 Billion a year.
-------------------------------------------------------
Since this post was put up, the Energy Minister has said he will "start"  to reduce the amount of the discount in 2 years time.   Two years time brings us to a new election window!  The last time we entered an election considering provincial loss of revenues, was at Stelmach's last run.  The Conservatives released at .pdf at the eve of the election which had pie in the sky; impossible figures for oil royalty.  I warned people at the time there was nothing in the document for this province.

In fact, that same document further reduced the royalty by changing Alberta's take from US dollars to Canadian Dollars a loss to the people of this province of 18% at that time!

In the time frame outlined for the "start" by the Minister, we will have lost an additonal 150 billion dollars in provincial revenues by ripping that amount from our economy!

They have lied every election.  They are lying now!  Oil and the Alberta Conservatives and Wild Rose (all one of the same) are not going to give up the fight for billions of dollars, theirs or not.
----------------------------------------------------------

This same figure is also missing from the Balance of Trade Figures internationally which makes the Canadian dollar worth much more than is represented!  Bad news for Manufacturing.

You have often wonder why, if we are such a "rich" province do we not have any money nor do we have jobs for many of our people.  This is why!!

Arguments are coming on the Web which ask if collecting these monies would effect investment.
The answer is NO!  No other province does this and, they are doing just fine with production moving up on Alberta.

The Details:

I must apologize to my many readers. In the post http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-politics-and-finance-of-alberta-and.html  I did what I have told you never to do.  That is, accept Government figures on anything!   The above post is taken from figures given to the news media to publish on Alberta's production figures.

I assume the much lower numbers released is to cover the fact the conventional crude oil is running out fast and is expected to drop to less than half in another 8 years.   They would not have had to explain away changes in production figures had this been allowed to ride.  No other province in Canada or State in the US does this kind of giveaway!  It is criminal!

Industry figures are very different and they are available on CAPP for your viewing pleasure at http://www.capp.ca/library/statistics/handbook/pages/statisticalTables.aspx?sectionNo=3

Alberta Taxpayer owns 25% of the Tar sands but collect nothing.  http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2012/02/alberta-royalty-explained.html   For this excise I will take 20% USD  based on 100.00 per US Barrel.  If oil prices are at 125.00 per bbl multiply the daily figure by 1.25.  If oil is priced at 87.00 dollars; take the daily figure at .87 and you will know how much you lost that day!  It would be nice if news media would carry an ongoing clock "how much you lost today or month"

What is not considered here is the exchange we lose between the US numbers and Canadian numbers including dollars.  The Conservatives changed our take to Canadian Dollars on their last phony royalty increase!  This means an additional 1 to 14% loss across the board added to the first dollar figures.

Industry on the other hand came forward with more accurate, reasonable numbers that were published in the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald and taken from the CAPP website.  The Edmonton Journal's excellent journalism and research should not go unnoticed.  In my mind they are worthy of a Pulitzer award! 

The figures following are the lowest possible, the very least losses we are encountering! 

Quote:
The report comes the day after CIBC World Markets released a report that suggests oilsands producers could add 270,000 bpd per day per year of capacity through 2020 for a total of about four million bpd, up from 1.6 million bpd in 2011.

The forecast is considerably more bullish than one published in June by CAPP which estimated growth at an average of 180,000 bpd per year to 3.2 million bpd in 2020 from actual 1.6 million in 2011 Recent  news releases by the companies indicate the CIBC is correct and on track.

 This study will include the considerable conventional oil production now at 1.2 million bpd  and is expected to be just half of that amount by 2025. The life of the field can be extended by flooding with carbon dioxide and water.  The Conservatives are looking for ways to charge the taxpayer  for this.

 The Conservatives have taken all your resources and given you nothing; nodding, smiling and lying to you  every step of the way dropping a little gold here and there to keep you happy and mellow.  They are well on their way to taking your water also.

PRODUCTION:
Production  Tar Sands:          1.037 Million Barrels per day output.
Production  Conventional:    1.2 Million Barrels per day and falling fast!
Total Alberta production is  2.237 million barrels per day!

Neighboring provinces collect royalty at  20% not the 25% to which we are entitled.  I will also use the 20% for the resulting figure of  447,400 barrels per day owned by the taxpayer in Alberta.

At  100.00 per barrel that  $44,740,000.00 per day we are due!  (actual cash lost) We get zilch!
 
The Conservatives  discount oil in pipelines at 25% off the lower Brent crude price.

That is 559,250 barrels of oil per day the producers of this province do not get paid for that in itself is a rip off of $55,925,000 (millions  dollars us per day) from the Alberta Economy!

Lost Taxes on the oil shipped free:  $13,981,000 (millions per day)

The final numbers in:
Lost royalty $44,700,000 (Cash)
Lost Taxes    $13,981,000 (Cash)
Total Cash Loss to Alberta Taxpayers:   $58,681,000 per day!  21.419 dollars US  just this year, 2012!

The  money ripped out of Alberta's economy  in 1 day in millions:
Discounted oil down the pipe:   55,925,000
Lost Royalty and Taxes :              58,681,000  
Total                                              $114,606,000 per day loss!

This figure is also missing from the Balance of Trade Figures internationally bad news for Manufacturers. 

Shale production will help maintain the output somewhat.  Shale drilling is not a new fancy deal.  Shale gas was first extracted in 1825 in NY.  High production began in the 1970s and really got going in the late 80s.  The addition of Nitric Acid in various strengths to the down hole mix is the only real change to the technology although mechanics has improved.

It was ramped up in Alberta  as part of the Make Work Program for the oil industry in the last downturn. 
This effort cost or will cost the Alberta Taxpayers over 6 billion dollars as the money came from Alberta Government Pension Funds.  AIMCo who looks after these funds reported an 8 billion dollar loss at a time when others in their industry were declaring a 3%  profit.  Coincidentally the numbers for the make work program and AIMco loss are the same. 

The Government continues to tell us this money came from a nebulous savings program.  While it is true there were excesses saved up in various departments that could be drawn upon these excesses were  about 100,000 to 250,000 dollars for some organizations; no where near the 8 billion spent! 

The Political Parties

The Conservatives are following the plan laid down by Ralph Klein.  They haven't deviated from it at all, regardless of who stands up as premier!   This is why their current tour asking public opinion about health care is worth nothing and will change nothing; it never has.

The Wild Rose Party was/is a small right wing group of extremists who caught the Oil Industry eye.  Harper supported them totally throwing his seasoned election types into the WRP as managers during the elections.

The Wild Rose have worked on their extreme positions  for years constantly deluding the people in the LDS church prevalent across southern Alberta.   Their cornerstone  is doing away with the Balance of payments program and they deliberately ignore Alberta's experience with the program.  Their argument is now and always has been "the oil belongs to the oil companies; left wing types are trying to take it away"

Alberta received equalization payments until  1947 and again from 1957 to 1965.  We got our share of the program when we needed it!  It is a Canadian solution so both Harper and the WRP want to end it.

The Wild Rose Party muddies the water by saying the equalization payments were not started until years later. That in itself is true but, this does not change the fact Alberta survived on payments from Ottawa for a great many years before they named it Equalization payments .

They also sight the Chase Manhattan Bank as being the great Canadian Savior by saving us from the evil eastern banks of the day.   One does not have to wonder about their origins!
 
Oil and Harper supported them on the net and in finances and  bannered them as the Ugly Sister of Conservative politics. It worked!   We now have a total circus of nutters for an official opposition.

The Alberta Party is still lurking in the background having no policy or platforms saying they will be whatever Albertans want them to be.  Always taking studies and never committing.  They too have the interest of the oil industry and will be left extremists  depending on what is needed to destabilize the vote in Alberta.  As in no time before us, it is imperative the Liberals and the NDP start working together!  A vote for the Alberta Party is beyond uniformed; it is dangerous!

Albertans are led to believe  a change in Government will  damage their employment  and careers.  Nothing could be further from the truth! 

With our additional 42 billions dollars in our economy the employment  would be better with far more choices and having a massive support for education and health care.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Alberta: Putting aside the fear, what do we have?

Putting aside the fear of change; what do we have? 

Mostly, we have a population that is terrified their hard work and meager savings will be jeopardized if the Conservatives are voted out!  Not selfish; understandably, just terribly afraid.  I will demonstrate nothing is further from the truth!  It is better to have any party who is willing to serve the people of Alberta as opposed to the Conservatives who have demonstrated for more than a decade their purpose is to rip off the resource leaving nothing behind!

Your lives and your profits can only increase!  When most of that 46 billion dollars of stolen revenue gets back into our books a great number of things are possible!  A much better life for everyone including the oil patch, catering, Hair Dressers, tailors, Automotive; Education and the Oil Patch!  Everyone!

To take a closer look:


The Wild Rose Party was/is a small right-wing group of extremists who caught the Oil Industry eye and finance support.  Harper supported them totally throwing his seasoned election types into the WRP as managers during the elections.  We now have a total circus of nutters for an official opposition!

The Wild Rose Party and the oil companies have pushed their cause forward by deluding the large LDS (Mormon) following in Southern Alberta with some really hare-brained ideology not the least of which is "the oil companies own the oil and left-wing parties are trying to steal it from them".   Next, like Harper, they have pushed hard on the equalization payment; a Canadian solution to our national well being saying "Alberta has always paid for Eastern Canada and we get nothing in return."  ' plays well with the stealing of the oil companies oil.

Alberta received equalization payments from conception until  1947 and again from 1957 to 1965.  We got our share of the program when we needed it!  It was not called equalization until much later on but, the support still came from the Central Government to Alberta of those many years!

Being raised in the LDS church myself (a seagull who won't eat grasshoppers) I can still voice an opinion and that is Danielle and her dad should both be kicked out of the Church because of the huge lies they have pushed onto the vulnerable membership.


The Wild Rose Party  continue to muddy the water by saying the equalization payments were not started until years later. That in itself is true but, this does not change the fact Alberta survived on payments from Ottawa for a great many years before they named it Equalization payments .

They also sight the Chase Manhattan Bank as being the great Canadian Savior by saving us from the evil eastern banks of the day.   One does not have to wonder about their US origins!

T


The Wild Rose Party  continue to muddy the water by saying the equalization payments were not started until years later. That in itself is true but, this does not change the fact Alberta survived on payments from Ottawa for a great many years before they named it Equalization payments .
he Alberta Party is still lurking in the background having no policy or platforms saying they will be whatever Albertans want them to be.  Always taking studies and never committing.  They too have the interest of the oil industry and will be left extremists  depending on what is needed to destabilize the vote in Alberta.  It is a sad state of affairs when a single industry can manipulate our political landscape like they do! A vote for the Alberta Party is more than a wasted vote; it is a very damaging vote!

The Alberta New Democratic Party came out with a lot of very good, well thought out, sensible thinking this last election. Arguments that came forward on the various news sites were heavily laced with nonsense labels such as "left" "right" and "socialist" whereas their platform had nothing to do with any of these labels.  The NDP have never given any indication they will harm the industries or, in effect kill the golden goose!

The fact is, the 3 billion dollars a year we are missing out of our economy could only make their jobs easier, get them larger wages and reduce their cost of  living. Perhaps next time!

The Alberta Liberal Party, even having betrayed all who believed in them put forward some very adroit and well thought out platform items. Among the  foremost  plans was the doing away with the Alberta Health Authority.  That would have effectively stopped the move to privatization cold! The Health Authority's main job is to privatize health care, pushing as hard and fast as they can, taking whatever you will give up.  Legislation changes say you cannot sue the Government or the health authority for things that go wrong.

Cut and paste this link into your browser - Liberal Betrayal  http://albertathedetails.blogspot.ca/2013/03/betrayed-by-alberta-liberals.html

The Conservatives have savaged the education in this province cutting most support at all levels for  university education while building very shallow and sometimes dangerous trade programs to turn out bodies for the oil patch.  The Liberals proposed doing away with post secondary tuition.  This would have pushed forward an immediate increase in Albertans moving into executive positions in industry.

The thing is, if we had the  41 billion of dollars in tax revenues that was due to us we would be in a position of multi-choices and financing that would be assured for municipalities and cities; hospitals and schools.  Gone would be the scenario of telling Albertans how lucky we are the Conservatives found some money for a special project of theirs.  I am very sure the Conservative rank and file did not sign up for this travesty of Government.  We lost more in simple taxes on profits than we ever got from land lease sales.

Think of the 41 billion dollars a  year of your money that is being stolen; tucked into foreign oil pockets!  Why in the world would you continue to support this group?  They have done nothing; nothing at all except lie to you and elevate their own status.

Cut and paste this forward link to your browser: 
http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2012/08/alberta-losses-billion-due-to.html


Newer Posts Older Posts a> Home