Alberta oil producers have found a way around production limits imposed on them by the provincial government: buy the right to pump barrels from other companies that don’t need them.The volumes aren’t huge — Husky Energy Inc. is buying rights to produce an additional amount of less than 1,000 barrels a day, Rob Symonds, chief operating officer, said Tuesday in an investor call.
, an oilsands producer, has been “actively engaged in this secondary market,” Tom McMillan, spokesman, said in an email.Lower ValueA buyer of rights to produce will generally pay less than the value of the barrel to ensure a return, McMillan said. “The price you pay per barrel would need to strike a balance so that each barrel you produced creates incremental earnings.”Rules on the curtailment allow companies to sell production rights so long as the transaction is reported to the government.
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