Alberta's auditor general says the government has improved the way it tracks and reports billions of dollars in royalties from its oil and gas operations, but can do better.

Auditor general Merwan Saher, in a report delivered to the legislature Thursday, said the Department of Energy has improved how it describes, reviews, measures and reports royalties.

But he said while performance measures have been improved for conventional oil and natural gas royalties, the same hasn't been done for the oilsands royalty regime.

Saher, however, admitted that determining whether both taxpayers and industry are getting value for money in the oilsands can be hard to pin down.

It's easier, he said in the report, to set measurable targets for conventional oil and gas operations because the figures can be compared to competing operations in other provinces.

Opposition weighs in

Alberta Liberal leader David Swann accused the Stelmach government of failing to respond to the auditor general.

Saher identified issues in the Ministry of Advanced Education and Alberta Treasury Branches, and his report included 16 recommendations for improving financial accountability.

Swann said that looking back at previous reports, it shows the government isn't listening to the advice.

"There's still 280 recommendations from the auditor general that have not been acted upon," said Swann.

"That's disturbing, for a government that says it wants to be accountable and it wants to act in the long-term public interest, when these experts are saying that they have made these recommendations over and over again and they're not being acted upon."

Alberta NDP leader Brian Mason said the public should be concerned that Saher found the government hasn't developed performance measures for oilsands royalties.

"There should be goals for production, for new investment, and for jobs, and the goals should balance that with the need for maximizing the return to us, the people who own the resources," said Mason.

"In the absence of that, all we can say is that the government has no idea what the royalties should be to accomplish any of its goals and objectives."

A spokesperson for the energy minister said the department accepts the auditor's criticism and is working to put performance measures in place.

The royalties are Alberta's key economic driver and are forecast to bring in $8.3 billion to provincial coffers this year, half of which will come from the oilsands.

With files from The Canadian Press