The province is implementing relief measures for the oil and gas sector. They include extending a series of filing and other deadlines to help in stabilizing operations, and extending mineral rights scheduled to expire in 2020, by one year. The government is also reducing the industry portion of the Oil and Gas Administrative Levy by 50 per cent this fiscal year and delaying the invoicing of the remaining balance until October first.

Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre says the oil and gas industry was dealing with challenges before the pandemic, but there has been added pressure because of low demand from less travel and there is a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The province has also reached a draft agreement with the federal government on the regulation of methane reductions in the upstream oil and gas industry. Ottawa will now begin the process of confirming the terms of the agreement through the federal review process.

The agreement fulfills the request of industry to be regulated by the province. Minister responsible, Bronwyn Eyre says, “We will now work with our operators in a common sense way to reduce emissions from venting and flaring by 4.5 million tonnes per year by 2025.”

She explains that similar to the carbon tax, if there were no agreement that the province’s plan was equivalent to the federal plan, the federal government would have imposed its own. Eyre said it has been a long process to get this agreement in place.