Alberta oil and gas industry projects higher salaries as oil prices stabilize, Conference Board says

The stabilization in oil priceshasAlberta businesses growing increasingly optimistic about 2017's economic climate.

According to the Conference Board of Canada's Mid-Year Pulse Check an update report on the board's annual Compensation Planning Outlook that optimism has resulted in a 1.4 to 1.6per cent rise in salary projections in the oil and gas sector this year.

The number is up from the original 1.1per cent projected increase for Alberta predicted in the summer of 2016.

• $5.3B to flow during Fort McMurray rebuild, says Conference Board of Canada
• Oil prices to average about $55 a barrel in 2017, Deloitte forecasts

"Canadian organizations' projected salary increases have generally remained unchanged since the summer except for apparent shifts at industry and regional levels," said Conference Board of Canada director AllisonCowanin a release.

"We are seeing energy sector organizations responding to the steadied price of oil with greater confidence in business conditions and a slightly better compensation outlook."

The increase may be slight, but enthusiasm aboutthe economic recovery of the oil and gas sector in Albertaoverall is much higher than for Canadian businesses overall in 2017.

Just under one-quarter of organizations in Canada reported believing business conditions would improve this year, up from 18 per cent in 2016. In Alberta, 44 per cent of organizations said they believed business conditions would improve, where only 12 per cent were optimistic the previous year.

The board's predictions are based on a survey distributed to more than 2,000 large and medium-sized Canadian organizations operating in a variety of regions and sectors. Around 17 per cent of those contacted responded to the 2017 annual outlook survey. Of those 17 per cent, 54 per cent replied to the mid-year survey.

• MORE ALBERTA NEWS|Alberta beef producers, farmers poised to benefit from trade deal with European Union
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS|Alberta shuts down Lexin Resources, leaving a big mess to clean up