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Who would want to be Alberta’s next energy minister?

The United Conservative Party’s oil and gas agenda is extensive, and it looks like a migraine-inducing slog for the next energy boss.

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The industry’s issues — from pipelines and oil curtailment, to climate considerations and electricity reform — are as complicated as quantum physics.

Many of the key levers for success are beyond the province’s control.

While the energy minister holds one of the most powerful seats at the cabinet table, it’s also one of the trickiest, with an array of competing interests and demands.

“It’s an extremely important job, because it’s our resources,” said Rick Orman, an oilman who became a Progressive Conservative energy minister in the 1980s and early ’90s.

“It’s complicated and it’s multi-faceted . . . If you have a background in the industry, a grounding in the industry, that gives you a leg up to hit the ground running.”