TURNER VALLEY, Alta. — Leader Jason Kenney says a UCP government in Alberta would reduce wait times on energy projects to try to make them the fastest in North America.

Kenney says approvals for oil wells currently take 1 1/2 year, which he says places Alberta far behind Saskatchewan and U.S. jurisdictions and puts the province at a competitive disadvantage.

He says if his party were elected April 16, he would set up legislated targets to cut wait times and would publish data to update progress.



The goal would be to cut timelines in half and eventually make them the shortest in North America.

Speaking in Turner Valley, Kenney also said his government would guarantee in law that once a well was given a permit, royalties taken from it wouldn’t change for the life of the project.

He said his government would intervene at all National Energy Board hearings that affected Alberta’s oil and gas interests.

The UCP leader said higher business costs under Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, coupled with proposed changes on tanker shipments and federal energy approvals, have undercut an industry looking to dig out from a global drop in oil prices.

“We’re going to restore investor confidence and send a message to all of those companies that have fled the (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau-Notley alliance that we are turning the situation around and we are open for business again,” Kenney said Tuesday.

The Canadian Press

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