Alberta’s government has publicly released the final report of an expert panel asked to examine the province’s energy royalty and tax regime.

The report provides recommendations about how the government can modify the existing provincial royalty structure. The government will provide a formal response to the report by mid October.

The royalty review process began in February with the appointment of a six-member panel by Lyle Oberg, minister of finance. Chaired by Bill Hunter, former president of Al-Pac, the panel included experts in resource taxation and the royalty system. Members of the panel included Evan Chrapko, Judith Dwarkin, Kenneth McKenzie, Andre Plourde and Sam Spanglet.

As part of the review, the panel hosted a series of five public meetings across the province and accepted over 300 submissions from Alberta residents, municipal leaders and stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.

“Thanks to the panel’s hard work over the past eight months, government has a thorough report and valuable information to consider when making a final decision,” said Oberg. “Our goal is to ensure the royalty framework strikes the right balance, providing Albertans with a fair return while maintaining an internationally competitive system that allows the provincial economy to continue to prosper.”