B.C. Government Admits $1.46 Billion Error in Gas Revenue Forecasts

The British Columbia government has acknowledged errors in its gas revenue forecasts, overestimating revenues by about $1.46 billion over five fiscal years.

The most significant error was a 44-cent overstatement in the forecasted per-gigajoule price of natural gas this fiscal year, which Energy Minister Adrian Dix called a 'serious mistake'. However, he noted that price fluctuations have led to both underestimates and overestimates of revenues over the years.

The errors were caused by botched currency conversions and incorrect assumptions about the units in which prices were provided. The province's forecasting is based on private-sector estimates of natural gas prices, which are provided in Canadian or U.S. dollars.

The corrections to the errors resulted in a decrease in forecasted revenue for this fiscal year by $306 million, reducing it by 24% from $1.297 billion to $991 million.