Taxation of Oil and Gas Revenues of Four Countries

Abstract

Energy taxation is more complex and more controversial in Canada than in most or all other countries, for three main reasons. First, under the constitution, most natural resources are owned by the provinces, with important powers of regulation and taxation in the hands of the provincial and federal governments. Second, energy resources are very unevenly distributed among the provinces. Alberta, with less than 10 percent of Canada's population, accounts for 85 percent of Canada's nonfrontier onshore crude oil and natural gas. Finally, the Canadian oil and gas industry is largely foreign-owned and foreign-controlled.