The Fraser Institute’s 2023 Canada-US Energy Sector Competitiveness Survey says Saskatchewan is the highest ranked Canadian province when it comes to barriers to investment in oil and gas exploration and production facilities in each country.

A total of 165 respondents participated in the survey this year, providing sufficient data to evaluate four Canadian provinces and 13 American states.

For a second year in a row, Wyoming is the most attractive jurisdiction for oil and gas investment followed by North Dakota (2nd), Saskatchewan (3rd), Oklahoma (4th) and Kansas (5th).

From a Canadian perspective, Saskatchewan is followed by Alberta at 9th spot, Newfoundland is 14th and BC at 15th. The Government of Saskatchewan says the Fraser Institute annually ranks US and Canadian provinces following a survey of senior executives in the upstream oil and gas sector. Respondents scored Saskatchewan favourably in areas relating to regulations, labour, taxation, infrastructure, and security.

The report says investors indicated that uncertainty concerning environmental regulations, regulatory duplication and inconsistencies, and disputed land claims were more concerning in Canadian provinces than in US states. Overall, the US performs better than Canada in 13 out of the 16 policy factors.