In a major bid to promote the oil & gas business across Alberta, the provincial government has provided funds worth USD 1 billion in the form of incentives to expand the regional oil & gas sector. Prior to this declaration, the government had announced that it will introduce a USD 1 billion grant & loan project for developing five partial oil upgraders in the region. Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, the Energy Minister of Alberta, has stated that if Bill 1 is approved, then a loan worth USD 500 million will be provided for the next round of the petrochemicals diversification project, which was introduced in 2016 to encourage firms to process petrochemicals.
According to reliable reports, Inter Pipeline had received grants from the provincial government for the first round of its petrochemicals diversification scheme. The company presently is constructing a unit, which is valued at USD 3.5 billion, that will help in converting propane into polypropylene. Incidentally, Inter Pipeline stood among the sixteen firms in 2016 to receive grants from the Alberta administration. The company will now receive USD 200 million in credits after the project’s operations commence.
Apart from the current funding, another funding of USD 500 million in the form of loan guarantee and grants is on the cards. This amount will be put back into a feedstock infrastructure project for promoting the construction of units to derive natural gas liquid products from key gas pipelines. These grants are likely to be provided by the regional authorities in 2020.
As per reliable sources, the government has launched the projects based on the endorsements made by the power diversification advisory team, which was formed in 2016 to demonstrate as to how a Canadian province can enhance the valuation of its energy resources in the future.
