Alberta acknowledges changing energy environment

Alberta acknowledges changing energy environment: "

Ed Stelmach was elected leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative party, and thus premier, in December 2006, and he moved quickly to meet a campaign promise to fully review Alberta's oil and natural gas royalties.

In February 2007, the six-person Royalty Review Panel was formed and the members were portrayed as industry experts. The oil industry quickly discovered that the panel was stacked against them. Headed by a former forestry executive, a natural foe of oil companies, the panel included two academics, an economist, a retired petroleum manufacturing executive, and a technology executive.

Concerns about the panel membership grew stronger when major companies were allowed as little as 10 minutes to appear before the panel with 20-page reports."