Alberta sues Oil companies for unpaid royalties

jagators63 · 03-05-2012, 06:47 PM

Gov't have sue Oil companies for $ 100 million dollars.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/05/0...paid-royalties

Chmilz · 03-05-2012, 10:41 PM

I read the article. Appears the newspaper headlines are nothing but sensationalism. The lawsuit is a placeholder while negotiations continue over how to assess the value of upgraded product since Syncrude upgrades all its bitumen and there were inventories in process during the framework change in 2009.

whynow99 · 03-05-2012, 10:51 PM

The royalty contract agreements are already in place, so a forensic accounting is all which is needed to find out what has been paid and NOT. The Law is behind these contracts to enforce their back-payments and cooperation. So please lets get our taxpayer monies paid into our coffers in spite of deadbeat Klein and lazy smoke and mirrors Getty along with laugh-at-me now Lougheed pretending to be looking after our taxpayer interests.

Chmilz · 03-05-2012, 11:34 PM

^Either you didn't read the article or chose not to understand the problem.

The royalty is on bitumen coming out the end of the pipe. Syncrude upgrades 100% of its bitumen, so there's no bitumen coming out of the end of the pipe. They need to determine the royalty for this since it's not specifically in the framework. During the framework change, there was also bitumen undergoing processing and they need to determine what royalties should be paid on this as well.

The article clearly states that the lawsuit is in place to ensure the government maintains a right to some royalties, probably due to some statute of limitations on when they're supposed to collect or whatnot.

At this exact point, this really is a non-issue of some old paperwork needing to be clarified.

KC · 04-05-2012, 08:31 AM

These things are never totally clear and loopholes can be worked into or found in almost any contract, policy, law etc.

I know of one business that once apparently built a form of continuous compounding into its cost calculations for cost recovery, allowance for funds used during construction or whatever it was... When another publicly owned business couldn't figure out the large and growing disparity in its numbers and those of the other filing business, it was apparently discovered. It may have been accidental or a case of the privately owned business gaming the system. I don't know what the ultimate outcome of that was but it involved big bucks. So much for the honor system / partners in development expectation when the government facilitates and works with business.

Or if you look the apparent corruption with SNC Lavalin you have to wonder how auditors missed millions in payments... Or if the system is designed to miss those payments because bribery of its ubiquitous international nature.

Dialog · 04-05-2012, 09:59 AM

Or, they'll jerk the Province's chain and we'll obediently comply.

03-05-2012, 06:47 PM	#1
jagators63 Addicted to C2E Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Edmonton (belevedre)	Alberta sues Oil companies for unpaid royalties Gov't have sue Oil companies for $ 100 million dollars. http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/05/0...paid-royalties __________________ Edmonton Rocks Rocks Rocks

03-05-2012, 10:41 PM	#2
Chmilz Addicted to C2E Join Date: Jan 2009	I read the article. Appears the newspaper headlines are nothing but sensationalism. The lawsuit is a placeholder while negotiations continue over how to assess the value of upgraded product since Syncrude upgrades all its bitumen and there were inventories in process during the framework change in 2009. __________________ "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction" - Blaise Pascal

03-05-2012, 10:51 PM	#3
whynow99 Partially Addicted to C2E Join Date: Apr 2009	The royalty contract agreements are already in place, so a forensic accounting is all which is needed to find out what has been paid and NOT. The Law is behind these contracts to enforce their back-payments and cooperation. So please lets get our taxpayer monies paid into our coffers in spite of deadbeat Klein and lazy smoke and mirrors Getty along with laugh-at-me now Lougheed pretending to be looking after our taxpayer interests. __________________ Dave Rutherford is a small, small person....sucking up to get a Government appointment obviously.

03-05-2012, 11:34 PM	#4
Chmilz Addicted to C2E Join Date: Jan 2009	^Either you didn't read the article or chose not to understand the problem. The royalty is on bitumen coming out the end of the pipe. Syncrude upgrades 100% of its bitumen, so there's no bitumen coming out of the end of the pipe. They need to determine the royalty for this since it's not specifically in the framework. During the framework change, there was also bitumen undergoing processing and they need to determine what royalties should be paid on this as well. The article clearly states that the lawsuit is in place to ensure the government maintains a right to some royalties, probably due to some statute of limitations on when they're supposed to collect or whatnot. At this exact point, this really is a non-issue of some old paperwork needing to be clarified. __________________ "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction" - Blaise Pascal

04-05-2012, 08:31 AM	#5
KC Addicted to C2E Join Date: Mar 2006	These things are never totally clear and loopholes can be worked into or found in almost any contract, policy, law etc. I know of one business that once apparently built a form of continuous compounding into its cost calculations for cost recovery, allowance for funds used during construction or whatever it was... When another publicly owned business couldn't figure out the large and growing disparity in its numbers and those of the other filing business, it was apparently discovered. It may have been accidental or a case of the privately owned business gaming the system. I don't know what the ultimate outcome of that was but it involved big bucks. So much for the honor system / partners in development expectation when the government facilitates and works with business. Or if you look the apparent corruption with SNC Lavalin you have to wonder how auditors missed millions in payments... Or if the system is designed to miss those payments because bribery of its ubiquitous international nature. Last edited by KC; 04-05-2012 at 08:33 AM..

04-05-2012, 09:59 AM	#6
Dialog Addicted to C2E Join Date: Apr 2010	Or, they'll jerk the Province's chain and we'll obediently comply. __________________ ‘I am nervous about ideologies, whether it’s the ideology of business or the ideology of Bolshevism. I get nervous in the presence of absolute certainty’ —Milton Glaser