$1.5 Billion Gas Royalty Error Blamed on Spreadsheet Mistake

The British Columbia government is facing criticism over a $1.5 billion natural gas royalty accounting error, which it attributes to a spreadsheet mistake related to currency conversion.

According to officials, an error in converting Canadian dollars to American dollars led to an overstatement of revenue, resulting in roughly $300 million needing to be shaved off provincial revenues for each of the next four years. The total correction will equal approximately $1.462 billion.

The royalty regime is designed to ensure that the B.C. government and First Nations benefit financially from natural gas extracted from public and Aboriginal lands. However, price calculation errors have been a concern, particularly in light of a July letter from the Treaty 8 First Nations, which pointed out that errors are being baked into the incoming royalty changes slated to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

The Treaty 8 letter criticized the government for failing to account for transportation costs and for stacking mistake upon mistake. Ministry officials dispute this characterization, contending that after an independent economist checked the numbers, a few accounting errors were found, but they were minor and unrelated to transportation costs.