The province is turning to the petrochemicals industry to try and diversify the economy. The government will award $500 million in royalty credits to new facilities that turn methane or propane into materials used to make plastics, detergents and textiles.
Those companies can then trade or sell the credits to natural gas producers, who would use them against their royalty payments. The new program is expected to attract between $3 and $5 billion dollars in investment.
It’s believed Alberta has the potential for two or three new facilities to be built, employing up to 3,000 people during the construction of each and more than 1,000 directly and indirectly once production starts.
