Oil Companies whine about possible higher royalties
So oil companies in Alberta are crying about plans for the government to actually start charging them the royalty rates that they should have been paying for the last several years.
And they’re saying that despite record high oil prices and the record high profits that go with them, they’ll be so put out by this increase that they’ll have to cut jobs and production.
Not even the world’s smallest violin will be playing any sympathy notes over this one.
Frankly, even if they did cut back on some jobs, and I’m pretty sure they’ll find a way to keep pumping the black gold out of the ground so the real gold keeps flowing into their wallets, it isn’t like the Alberta economy is exactly hurting for employment. I’m betting there are more than a few employers that would be delighted to see the oil industry lay off a few people so that they won’t be so hard up for workers.
Besides, it will allow some of the Newfoundlanders to go home and work on the new offshore deals Danny Williams signed recently. The ones the oil companies said would never get signed because Premier Williams was asking for too much ownership and royalties for the people of Newfoundland.
I sense a pattern.
