There's increased optimism in the oil patch a year after the royalty review.

Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd says the price per barrel has risen and that's bringing rigs back into service.

"The number of active rigs in Alberta is significantly higher that it was a year ago," the minister says. "According to industry figures there were 247 active rigs in the middle of this month, that's a 50 per cent increase from what it was this time last year."

McCuaig-Boyd says each rig is responsible for 135 direct and indirect jobs.

She says the new royalty framework rewards innovation and that in turn reduces costs making Alberta companies more competitive.

Dave Mowat, President and CEO of ATB Financial; past Chair of Alberta’s Royalty Review Advisory Panel, says goal was to modernize the framework and provide optimal returns for Albertans while encouraging industry investment, diversification opportunities and support the responsible development of resources.

"One of the key things that we came up with is that this was not a normal cyclical downturn, this was a structural change, we as the people who seek to gain advantage of the base in here in Alberta is we have to get our costs down and that is what the modernized royalty framework does in many ways is it encourage innovation and it encourages people to get their costs down," Mowat says.

McCuaig-Boyd admits it's not perfect, office space is empty, people are out of work and some companies are struggling but there is more optimism than a year ago.

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