Alberta’s savings hobbled by oil sands
Potential bonanza for Heritage Fund is not without caveats
For the first time in decades, with the most recent global energy crisis driving prices higher, politicians in Alberta are talking about stashing relatively large sums in the Heritage Fund—essentially a sovereign wealth fund (SWF)—or at least paying down the province’s burgeoning debt. This past summer, once it became apparent Alberta was going to achieve a large budget surplus this fiscal year (FY), then premier Jason Kenney announced the “largest-ever single-year investment in the Heritage Fund”: a total of C$2.9bn ($2.14bn). This was to be achieved by allowing the fund to retain its investment income from the previous year and by allocating it an additional C$1.7bn. In November, at the ti

Also in this section
13 February 2025
New supply from Argentina, Brazil and Guyana is rich in middle distillates, but optimism in terms of volume growth remains tempered by regulatory and technical risks as well as price volatility
12 February 2025
The oilfield expansion provides a fresh influx of revenue but will strain its cooperation with OPEC+ and fails to mask deeper issues with the economy and investors
11 February 2025
Improving compliance among the group and wider group is offset by production increases in outliers Libya, Venezuela and Iran
10 February 2025
The country wants to kickstart its upstream but first needs to persuade investors to foot the bill