Having watched industry reaction to Alberta's poorly conceived royalty scheme a couple years back, I can't stress the importance of Quebec getting this right ... the first time. Since every consession to green lobyists, farmers, unions etc etc will come with a price tag, any attempt to load these costs into the royalty structure will backfire big time.

With plenty of nat gas everywhere depressing prices, you'd better be the low cost jurisdiction. In this case, since Utica costs are already 15% higher than other NA shale gas plays, a punitive royalty regime will kill the industry. A simple reallocation of capital at the board level, a quick press release and ... poof! Hey! Where did the rigs go?