1280px-Canada_geological_map-WCSBFraser Institute’s annual Global Petroleum Survey of energy executives ranks Canada oil and gas provinces among the best in the world for investment. The survey ranks 156 jurisdictions worldwide on their attractiveness for investment based on the input of oil and gas industry executives and the oil and gas reserves of each jurisdiction.

Canada’s Most Attractive Province: Alberta

On the strength of its petroleum reserves, Alberta remains the most attractive province for oil and gas investment in Canada, placing second of 27 jurisdictions with large petroleum reserves. “Alberta’s wealth of petroleum reserves continues to attract investment, which creates jobs for scores of Canadians,” said Kenneth Green, senior director of the Fraser Institute’s Center for Natural Resources, in a press release. The only jurisdiction that ranked higher than Alberta was Texas. To be considered one of the jurisdictions with “large” petroleum reserves, the jurisdiction’s reserves had to comprise 1% or more of the total reserves of the entire group surveyed.

Reserve Holder Comparisons

Saskatchewan and Manitoba are in World’s Top 3 Small Jurisdictions

Based on the annual survey, British Columbia was number 19 of 44 jurisdictions with medium-sized reserves, and of the remaining 69 jurisdictions with small proven oil and gas reserves Saskatchewan and Manitoba ranked number 2 and 3, respectively. To be considered in the “medium” reserve group the jurisdiction must have more than 0.1%, but not more than 1% of the entire survey group, while the “small” group were those jurisdictions with less than 0.1% of the total reserves in the survey group.

Canada Oil and Gas Provinces Rank Among Best in the World - Oil & Gas 360Additionally, the survey features an alternate ranking format, which ignores proven oil and gas reserves and focuses solely on survey responses. In this format, Saskatchewan ranks first in Canada (and third out of the 156 jurisdictions worldwide). Manitoba ranks second in Canada (fifth globally), followed by Alberta (sixteenth globally).

On the other end of the Canadian spectrum, Quebec presents the greatest barriers to oil and gas investment in Canada, the study found. “Quebec continues to sour petroleum investment by delaying authorization for development, to the detriment of many Quebecers who could be working in the resource industries,” Green said.

Negative factors which give jurisdictions low rankings include barriers to investment such as high taxes, costly regulatory obligations, uncertainty over environmental regulations and the interpretation and administration of regulations, and concerns over political stability and security of personnel and equipment.

“As in previous surveys, investors indicate that they continue to turn away from jurisdictions with onerous fiscal regimes, political instability, and land claim disputes. Similarly, investors prefer to avoid jurisdictions with costly, time-consuming uncertain regulations. Other factors being equal, competitive tax and regulatory regimes can attract investment and thus generate substantial economic benefits,” the report said.

When considering policy independently from the size of a jurisdiction’s reserves, the 10 least attractive jurisdictions for investment (starting with the worst) are Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Iran, Russia—Eastern Siberia, Russia—Offshore Arctic, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), and Turkmenistan.

A Look at Canada’s E&Ps

Canada Oil and Gas Provinces Rank Among Best in the World Oil & Gas 360“Oil & Gas 360® Looks at Canada’s E&Ps” is a multi-part feature story that examines exploration and production companies developing a wide variety of oil and gas assets in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and other provinces.

Manitok Energy (ticker: MEI) is an E&P with operations in the most attractive province for oil and gas investment in Canada—Alberta. Manitok operates mainly in the Canadian Foothills, where it extracts conventional oil and gas, and in Southeast Alberta, where its focus is crude oil. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2014, Manitok reported total production of 4,647 BOEPD, up from 3,813 BOEPD for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2013.  In its November investor presentation, Manitok details its current operations, acreage, development plans, company financials, and the path it is taking to reach its production goal of 20,000 BOEPD in five years. Mass Geremia, President and Chief Executive Officer of Manitok Energy, discussed his company’s conventional approach and its assets in Alberta in this video interview from EnerCom’s The Oil & Gas Conference® 19 in August, 2014.

Canadian oil and gas companies highlighted in Part One and Part Two of the series include Crescent Point Energy (ticker: CPG), DeeThree Exploration (ticker: DTX), Manitok Energy (ticker: MEI), Tamarack Valley Energy (ticker: TVE), Encana Corp. (ticker: ECA), Vermilion Energy Inc. (ticker: VET), Crew Energy Inc. (ticker: CR) and Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. (ticker: BXE).

In Part Three of the series, Oil & Gas 360® looks at Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (ticker: COS), Lightstream Resources Ltd. (ticker: LTS), Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. (ticker: PEY) and Strategic Oil & Gas Ltd. (ticker: SOG).

The complete Global Petroleum Survey from the Fraser Institute may be downloaded here. The institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization tied to think-tanks in 87 countries. The institute’s Global Petroleum Survey is administered each year to petroleum industry executives to measure barriers to investment in the world’s oil and gas producing regions. This year, a total of 710 respondents representing 563 oil and gas companies completed the survey questionnaire that generated the report data.

Important disclosures: The information provided herein is believed to be reliable; however, EnerCom, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to its completeness or accuracy. EnerCom’s conclusions are based upon information gathered from sources deemed to be reliable. This note is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or financial instrument of any company mentioned in this note. This note was prepared for general circulation and does not provide investment recommendations specific to individual investors. All readers of the note must make their own investment decisions based upon their specific investment objectives and financial situation utilizing their own financial advisors as they deem necessary. Investors should consider a company’s entire financial and operational structure in making any investment decisions. Past performance of any company discussed in this note should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of future results. EnerCom is a multi-disciplined management consulting services firm that regularly intends to seek business, or currently may be undertaking business, with companies covered on Oil & Gas 360®, and thereby seeks to receive compensation from these companies for its services. In addition, EnerCom, or its principals or employees, may have an economic interest in any of these companies. As a result, readers of EnerCom’s Oil & Gas 360® should be aware that the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this note. The company or companies covered in this note did not review the note prior to publication. EnerCom, or its principals or employees, may have an economic interest in any of the companies covered in this report or on Oil & Gas 360®. As a result, readers of EnerCom’s reports or Oil & Gas 360® should be aware that the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report.


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