Overview
The following commodity based data comes from the various royalty reporting systems. Those systems are calendar year based meaning they are not directly comparable to the fiscal year revenue reported in the financial statements (annual reports) and the revenue summaries below.
Data reported on this page is;
- In the calendar year data, amendments filed by industry are reflected in the year they amend (this is subject to periodic industry amendments).
- This royalty systems data includes only actual invoice data. (Any discrepancy in the numbers reported is due to rounding.)
- These calendar year numbers are not reported on financial statements, they are unaudited.
- Reported each fall.
Data by resource type
Alberta Energy calendar year statistics in Excel up to December 31, 2017 for:
Conventional Oil
Prior to 2009 conventional oil production was differentiated by vintage with the following classifications Old (pools discovered prior to 1974), New (pools discovered between 1974 and 1990) and Third Tier (pools discovered after 1990). Additionally production was broken down into Heavy and Non-heavy production. In 2009 the vintages were eliminated and production was broken down into Light, Medium, Heavy and Ultra Heavy production. The New Well Royalty Rate was a royalty reduction in 2009 and up until May 2011 when it became a permanent part of the gross royalty in the royalty formula after May 1, 2011.
- Prices (XLSX, 35 KB)
- Royalty rates (XLSX, 39 KB)
- Royalty by depth of well (XLSX, 119 KB)
- Royalty by productivity range (XLSX, 38 KB)
Natural Gas
On May 1, 2011, the 2009 New Well Royalty Rate royalty reduction became a permanent part of the royalty formula. As this applies to by-products the overall effective rates are less than the previous fixed rates. In 2009 the vintages were eliminated and the gas royalty rate is based on the wells production and the gas price. By-product royalties are at fixed rates. Prior to 2009 natural gas production was differentiated by vintage with the following classifications Old (pools discovered prior to 1974), New (pools discovered between 1974 and 1990). The royalty rate was also adjusted for low productivity wells (LPWA).
- Prices (XLSX, 44 KB)
- Production (XLSX, 46 KB)
- Royalty by depth (XLSX, 47 KB)
- Royalty by production ranges (XLSX, 44 KB)
- Gas cost allowance (XLSX, 21 KB)
- Revenue (XLSX, 36 KB)
Oil Sands
Oil sands production royalties are paid in one of three ways;
- Same as conventional oil (until the project is approved)
- Under the Oil Sands royalty regulations (approved projects)
- Or under the terms of the crown agreement (older grandfathered agreements with Syncrude and Suncor)
Projects under the Oil Sands Royalty Regulations have a pre-payout or post payout status. Projects are in pre-payout until their revenues exceed allowable costs. In pre-payout status a projects pays 1 to 9% of revenues as royalties. The price of West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) in Canadian dollars determines that percentage and the percentage is calculated monthly.
When a project’s revenue exceeds allowable costs they move to post payout status and pay the higher amount of either their percentage of net profits or a percentage of revenues. The net revenue percentage varies between 25% and 40% based on the yearly average of the WTI price in Canadian dollars. A project does not revert to its pre-payout status if it has no profit, it will pay the percentage of revenue as royalties.
- The marker price for bitumen blend is Western Canadian Select
- Pre Payout Data (XLSX, 22 KB)
- Post Payout Data (XLSX, 24 KB)
- Non Project Data (XLSX, 22 KB)
- Percent of bitumen Upgraded (XLSX, 21 KB)
Fiscal revenue collected summaries
Alberta Resource Revenues: Historical (1970 to latest) and Budget ($ Millions)
This unaudited data is presented by calendar year, and each calendar year includes any revisions made in relation to that specific year, even if such revisions were filed by industry subsequent to the end of a calendar year which is amended. This data is not directly comparable to the fiscal year data reported in the government’s and ministries’ financial statements. Financial statements include a number of other amounts which are part of the fiscal year revenue reporting, but are not part of royalty reporting systems. Examples of such amounts include accruals, certain penalties, and trespass and offset compensation. Numbers updated September 2018 are bolded.
| Resource Revenue ($ Millions) | Other Revenue ($ Millions) |
|---|---|
| Natural Gas and By-product Royalty | Bonuses and Sales of Crown Leases |
| 2013/14 $1,103 2014/15 $989 2015/16 $493 2016/17 $520 2017/18 $645 |
2013/14 $588 2014/15 $476 2015/16 $203 2016/17 $203 2017/18 $564 |
| Conventional Oil Royalty | Rentals and Fees |
| 2013/14 $2,476 2014/15 $2,245 2015/16 $689 2016/17 $724 2017/18 $965 |
2013/14 $173 2014/15 $173 2015/16 $167 2016/17 $148 2017/18 $153 |
| Oil Sands Royalty | Freehold Mineral Tax |
| 2013/14 $5,222 2014/15 $5,049 2015/16 $1,223 2016/17 $1,483 2017/18 $2,643 |
2013/14 $146 2014/15 $172 2015/16 $79 2016/17 $57 2017/18 $67 |
| Coal Royalty | Departmental Revenue |
| 2013/14 $16 2014/15 $16 2015/16 $14 2016/17 $26 2017/18 $12 |
2013/14 $9,724 2014/15 $9,120 2015/16 $2,868 2016/17 $3,162 2017/18 $5,048 |
| Non Renewable Resource Revenue | Special Royalty Features (the Drilling Royalty Credit and New Well Royalty Rate program) |
| 2013/14 $9,578 2014/15 $8,948 2015/16 $2,789 2016/17 $3,105 2017/18 $4,980 |
2013/14 $0 2014/15 $0 2015/16 $0 2016/17 $0 2017/18 $0 |
Historical documents are also available for 1947 to 1954 and a summary of that document with annual numbers from 1960 to 1974.
For terms of use consult the copyright and disclaimer information.
Contact
To contact the technical team supporting industry for Alberta Oil and Natural Gas royalties:
Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Email: oil.gas.royalty@gov.ab.ca