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The Alberta government is moving to protect the energy sector as it braces for the double whammy of low oil prices and COVID-19.

Industry fees will be waived for the Alberta Energy Regulator for six months, at a cost of $113 million, to help counter the recent collapse in oil prices. Mineral agreements that were to set expire this year will be extended in order to give energy companies time to raise capital and develop future plans.

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The moves, announced by Premier Jason Kenney on Friday, are designed to ensure that energy companies remain operating and can supply the country in the long-term.

“The price war instigated by OPEC and Russia in the midst of this global pandemic highlights the need for Canada, the United States and other democratic nations to treat energy resources as key strategic assets that are essential to our national economic security,” said Kenney at a news conference.

Kenney said that there would be more measures announced soon, in addition to the recent $100-million loan to the Orphan Well Association to decommission wells, and deferral of all corporate income taxes for six months.