July 11, 2024
Breaking the royalty rates down further by project type (in situ and mining) yields these observations:
- In Situ: Royalty rates increased from 8.0% in 2016 to 18.6% in 2022. Despite year-over-year fluctuations, especially in the 2020 Covid pandemic year, royalty rates have been trending higher with the largest increases seen in 2021 and 2022.
- Mining: Royalty rates began at a mere 1.2% in 2016 and have increased to over 26% in 2022. Like in situ projects, despite annual fluctuations, royalty rates have been trending higher and at a considerably faster rate than in situ.
Alberta oil sands royalty rates are low before payout than after payout. Growth of royalty rates reflect that fact that many oil sands projects reached payout.
Source: Alberta Oil Sands Royalty Data, 2022