|
Alberta: We’re in the money Oil, gas revenue gusher pumps extra C$3B into province coffers in 2003-04; finance minister hopes to wipe out debt in 2005 Gary Park Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent
An oil and natural gas revenue bonanza gave the Alberta government a C$4 billion surplus for the 2003-04 fiscal year, four times the initial forecast.
The C$3 billion bonus came largely from oil and gas revenues, which tallied C$7.6 billion for the year ended March 31, 61 percent above the budget projection.
Finance Minister Pat Nelson said that if commodity prices remain at their current levels, the province could pay off its remaining C$3.7 billion debt in time for its 100th birthday in 2005.
The highlights released by Nelson June 29 showed that Alberta achieved its 10th consecutive balanced budget; Albertans have the highest personal disposable income per capita in Canada; and created 47,900 jobs, the best performance of any province. Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund recovers The windfall saw a sharp recovery in the value of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, a second-cousin to the Alaska Permanent Fund.
The fund’s investment portfolio rose by C$2.45 billion, posting an overall return on investment income of 22.5 percent, the largest single rise in the history of the 28-year fund.
It ended the fiscal year with a value of C$12.4 billion, and comes on the heels of a C$1.3 billion decline in 2002-03.
Revenue Minister Greg Melchin was all smiles one year after having to defend the government’s strategy of investing heavily in the stock market.
“If we had panicked and changed our investment strategy during the last few years we would have missed this recovery,” he said. Sustainability Fund at C$2.5 billion More money was added to the government’s Sustainability Fund, which now sits at C$2.5 billion and is intended to deal with emergencies from forest fires to droughts, while helping the province ride out volatile swings in oil and gas prices.
For the current fiscal year, Nelson has based projections on oil prices of US$26 per barrel (US$10 below current levels) and C$4.20 per thousand cubic feet for natural gas (C$2.25 short of current prices).
Liberal leader Kevin Taft scolded Nelson for consistently being off-based with her projections. “No financial planner is going to be this far off and still have any credibility,” he said.
He accused Premier Ralph Klein’s Conservative government of “stumbling, fumbling mismanagement of our resources.”
New Democrat spokesman Brian Mason said Alberta’s enviable financial position is based solely on rich natural resources, not good management.
| 