so a carbon tax will destroy us but a pst hike won't?

[chuckChuck]

The point I was making is that a $300,000 per average well abandonment is out to lunch if this matter was handled with some measure of common sense. Also Freehold mineral royalties are manna from heaven and should be acknowledged, appreciated or else returned to the sender.
They aren't meant to compensate for environmental cleanups.

Similarly the point that who knows how large a future cleanup cost may be compared to present costs (if done now) is a red herring. Receiving freehold payments today is also likely to have more value than if they were withheld into the future. Same arguments in both cases.



Quote The point I want to make is that the oil industry has not accounted for the liability of cleaning up suspended or abandoned and orphan wells. If the taxpayers are left paying for this then we have made a terrible mistake in the regulatory system. End Quote

Can't argue with that. When and if we reach the stage of the present future of coal; that will change. In fact it already has; if you take the present share price of a company such as Crescent Point Energy Corp (and its half dozen trusts and associated entities that have been hived off.)

But a person could add that there is little chance in Sask that the landowner will be saddled with the whole costs of abandonment. Taxpayers as a whole .... quite likely somewhat. And has been stated previously; it is possible to deliberately drive cleanup costs to ridiculous levels apparently just to prove somebodies irresponsible standard of absurdness.

There is a cost. How much will vary depending on many factors. Why would you expect common sense solutions in the oil patch when companies can at times charge what they want and extract huge profits? Avoidance of paying for the cleanup is their first option.

free hold revenues only apply to a small number of minerals. Most are held by the provincial governments. Surface leases are insignificant income for most farms considering the nuisance, capital loss and crop loss and the potential long term contamination and lost productivity.

As I have said before the value of food producing land is much higher than the value of any oil that will be extracted below the surface. Because food production will have to be sustained for thousands of years as long as humans inhabit the planet.