EDMONTON — Alberta's energy boom continues to paint the province the colour of money, pushing it toward a record budget surplus of $7.4 billion, according to a third-quarter fiscal update.

The report shows the province is expected to rake in $14.3 billion in energy revenues in 2005-06, another record that reflects the global surge in oil and natural gas prices.

A large chunk of revenues is from land sales already triple the previous high. Unidentified investors have been buying up huge tracts of lands, especially in the booming oilsands region.

With no remaining debt, Premier Ralph Klein's Conservative government is parking the bulk of its riches in various endowment and savings accounts to cover future spending.

"I'm excited about the ability to put some money away,'' Finance Minister Shirley McClellan said Monday.

McClellan refused to say whether the windfall would lead to tax cuts or another round of resource rebates for Albertans. But she didn't rule out those options, saying "everything is a possibility'' as the government prepares to release a new budget in the coming weeks.

"The execution level is high,'' said the minister. "We operate on what we believe we can sustain.''

Alberta's surplus is actually higher than the federal government's, which was announced last week to be $7.3 billion for the nine months which ended Dec. 31.

Roughly half of Alberta's extra cash is sitting in a capital account as the province tries to catch up with school, road and hospital construction in rapidly growing cities.

While revenue is up sharply, so is spending -- to an estimated $27.2 billion this year. That's due mainly to a long list of building projects, $726 million in natural gas rebates to consumers and $452 million in disaster assistance to farmers and help for fire and flood victims.

The $400 paid to every man, woman and child in 2006 as a rebate from spiralling resource revenue is costing $1.4 billion.

Much of the spending was not accounted for in the last budget and has become a target of criticism. Liberal finance critic Rick Miller said spending billions of dollars with no advance approval in the legislature makes a mockery of the process.

Alberta needs a solid framework for spending budget surpluses, especially since the province is likely to have another huge one next year, he said.

"We should be having that discussion today, not waiting for two or three people sitting around a bar table scribbling ideas on a napkin.''

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation said Alberta's spending has been out of control for several years. But spokesman Scott Hennig also said it's good news to hear McClellan wants to bring department spending in line with inflation.

"They're acknowledging the problem, which is a good first step for them,'' said Hennig. "Spending has gone pretty wild here when you're looking at 10 per cent increases in the health budget alone.''

The government is also adding $1.3 billion to the Heritage Savings Trust Fund. That will be offset, however, by $1.2 billion being taken out as part of a policy to redirect the fund's investment income into program spending.

"They're putting money into the Heritage Fund, then they're taking it out again and claiming that they're building it up,'' said NDP Leader Brian Mason. "It clearly speaks to the lack of any kind of long-term financial plan for the revenue.''

But even with the withdrawal, the value of the Heritage Fund is expected to climb to $14.5 billion because of the rainy-day fund's property and stock investments.

McClellan is rejecting a push by former premier Peter Lougheed, who created the fund, to require that one-third of energy revenues be deposited into the fund each year.

"I don't think it's possible,'' she said. "It's easy to be the one to say you should do it.''

Increasing costs for roads, schools and hospitals and spiralling health-care costs make for "some tough choices'' that have a higher priority than a guaranteed annual investment in the fund, said McClellan.