Canada's $1.6-billion bailout package for Alberta's battered oil industry is well underway but with little transparency about who is getting the money and for what.

The United Conservative government in Alberta says it will continue with a program introduced by the former NDP regime to use $1.1 billion in natural gas royalty credits to encourage new petrochemical projects.

The Alberta government is pledging half a billion dollars in royalty credits to two petrochemical projects. One is planned for an industrial area north of Edmonton and another is planned for an area east of the city.