Sask. ranked 3rd most attractive place in world for oil, gas investment

A pump jack is silhouetted against the setting sun in Oklahoma City, on March 22, 2012. (Sue Ogrocki / AP)

Saskatchewan is the third most attractive place in the world for oil and gas investment, according to the Fraser Institute’s annual Global Petroleum Survey.

The province topped the list of Canadian jurisdictions in the survey’s alternate ranking, which excludes proven oil and gas reserves and focuses solely on responses from industry executives.

Scores were assigned based on questions about factors that impact investment, such as high taxes, costly regulatory obligations and uncertainty over environmental regulations.

“Saskatchewan ranks well on most of those factors, and that’s what drives them upward in the rankings,” said survey director Kenneth Green.

“The comments were positive about the nature of the regulatory regime. They have attractive incentive mechanisms, their transparency in government is good (and) there’s decreased concern over things like disputed land claims.”

But Green adds that there’s room for improvement in Saskatchewan when it comes to the quality of infrastructure, regulatory costs and uncertainty around protected areas.

Oklahoma was ranked the most attractive jurisdiction in the world for investment in oil and gas exploration and development, followed by Mississippi.

Venezuela was the least attractive of the 156 jurisdictions in the survey, and Quebec was ranked worst among the Canadian provinces.

More than 700 respondents from 563 energy companies took part in this year’s survey.