Canada has a New Oil Hot Spot

There is a new red hot Province in Canada for oil investments and its not Alberta.

Land sales for oil and gas rights in Saskatchewan in April raked in $265 million for the province, smashing the Province’s record for annual land sale revenue of $250 million set last year. “There’s huge investment in our province that we haven’t seen before,” said Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd.

The new oil rush is in part due to Alberta’s changes to its royalty system. Boyd said the numbers speak in part to confidence in the province’s “stable royalty and regulatory regime.”

Ministry spokesman Roy Schneider acknowledged that the figures may have been influenced to some extent by the move in Alberta to begin overhauling its royalty revenue system. “When the calendar rolls around to 2009, industry in Alberta is going to be paying roughly an additional $1.4 billion in royalties,” said Schneider.

Bill Boyd said he believed the industry was responding to the economic prospects in booming Saskatchewan. “It’s working,” said Boyd. “It’s working very, very well for the people of Saskatchewan right now. Why would we want to make any changes?”