The province has nearly doubled the incentive for Alberta companies to upgrade crude oil and gas into refined products.
In her keynote speech at the 2018 Rural Municipalities of Alberta fall conference, Premier Rachel Notley announced an additional $600 million as part of the Petrochemicals Diversification Program, eight months after the province invested $500 million into the program.
The province’s total investment into petrochemical upgrading has reached $2.1 billion.
“We’re fighting for Albertans to make sure we get every dollar of value for the oil and gas resources that belong to them,” Notley said in a press release. “For decades, we’ve been settling for less while seeing new jobs and investment go south of the border. The time is now to think big, take action and finally upgrade more of our energy at home.”
The Alberta Government said the investment is expected to create 15,500 jobs construction jobs as facilities are built across the province, and 1,000 jobs when operations begin. Facilities are expected to generate approximately $284 million each year.
