While the oil companies do Stelmach a million favours by claiming he was too tough on them, every independent expert in the field continues to say that the Stelmach compromise will cost Albertans billions of dollars. The latest:

An independent energy economist who worked closely with the province and royalty review panel said Saturday the Stelmach government’s new royalties policy fails miserably on the oilsands — the province’s top energy play — and won’t deliver nearly enough economic rent to Albertans.

The analysis from world-renowned oil and gas economist Pedro van Meurs came a day after a member of the government-appointed royalty panel argued Premier Ed Stelmach’s new strategy is “a blatant deceit” of Albertans and doesn’t offer them a fair share of energy development.

“I believe that the proposed terms are highly detrimental to Alberta. They provide for only a minimal increase in revenues, compared to what was already a very modest proposal by the panel. The new terms will not give Albertans a fair share of the oilsands revenues,” van Meurs said in an analysis provided to the Herald.

[…]

In crafting the new framework, the Tory government rejected nearly half of the 26 recommendations from the royalty panel — including six of 11 suggestions on oilsands.

One of the panellists, who asked not to be identified, agreed with van Meurs that Albertans aren’t receiving a fair share of the publicly owned oil and gas resources under a deal that’s not grounded “in too much economic reality.”