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It's not often that an industry group is thankful for receiving a $13.3-million fee increase, but representatives of the oil and gas industry were just that following Wednesday's budget. A new oil and gas well levy was announced in the 2014-15 budget that will eliminate 10 different licences, generating 20,000 transactions annually, replacing them with a single levy and single-window service delivery. More importantly, the new system will expedite routine oil and gas well licensing approvals from several days or weeks to same-day service, in most cases.

The government benefits by recovering 90 per cent of costs recovered, compared with 20 per cent under the old licensing system. Saskatchewan is following the lead of Alberta and B.C., which recovers 100 per cent of the costs of the regulatory system through licensing fees and charges.

Energy and Resources Minister Tim McMillan said both industry and the government will benefit from the new system. "We worked very closely with industry and we've come up with a model we think will work very well in Saskatchewan,' he said following release of the budget Wednesday.

Under the old system, Mc-Millan said oil and gas companies might have to go to three different agencies or ministries to get approval to drill, complete or abandon a well. "They may have to go to three different windows - Agriculture, Environment and Energy and Resources - to get approvals. We're looking to move to a one-window system.'

But McMillan said the government won't compromise its regulatory role of protecting the environment and the public. In fact, the new system will provide more resources to expand government's regulatory capacity in the areas of air pollution monitoring, as well as enhanced well and facility monitoring and enforcement.

Brad Herald of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) said the organization, which represents Canada's biggest oil and gas companies, believes the new licensing system will foster industry growth, while providing better regulatory oversight. "We're certainly a consumer of those regulatory services and we welcome a model that is ... more sensitive to industry growth.'

Jason Denney of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (EPAC) added the extra $13.3 million in licensing fee revenues will help "expedite our applications and allow us to continue to grow our companies in the province. It's a better system and it's competitive with other western provinces that are producing oil and gas.'

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