Author Archives: Drew Yewchuk

About Drew Yewchuk

B.A. (UAlberta) J.D. (UCalgary) LLM (U.B.C.) Drew was a full-time staff lawyer with the University of Calgary's Public Interest Law Clinic from 2018-2022. He is now an PhD student at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. His research focuses on administrative secrecy, access to information law, species at risk, resource law, and environmental liabilities.

Freedom of Information: Brokering Access for Records on Oil and Gas Liability Management at the AER

By: Drew Yewchuk

Matter Commented On: “A Made-in-Alberta Failure: Unfunded Oil and Gas Closure Liability” School of Public Policy Paper Series, October 2023

PDF Version: Freedom of Information: Brokering Access for Records on Oil and Gas Liability Management at the AER

This blog post is a companion to “A Made-in-Alberta Failure: Unfunded Oil and Gas Closure Liability”, a research paper Martin Olszynski, Shaun Fluker, and I wrote for the School of Public Policy. The paper describes the decades of regulatory failure in Albertan policy on inactive and orphan oil and gas wells and identifies the core deficiencies in the regulatory approach. This post provides a summary of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, c F-25 (FOIP) access brokering process with the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for the records obtained for writing that paper. Altogether, more than 1,500 pages of records were obtained through FOIP, although that includes a large number of duplicated pages. The documents cited in the research paper are attached to the paper as an appendix. Continue reading →

Now 40% Worse: The Mine Financial Security Program in 2023

By: Drew Yewchuk and Martin Olszynski

Documents Commented on: Mine Financial Security Program – Security and Liability (2023); Annual Mine Financial Security Program Submissions 2023 Submissions for 2022 Reporting Year

PDF Version: Now 40% Worse: The Mine Financial Security Program in 2023

This brief post is in response to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) publishing the annual submissions required under the Mine Financial Security Program (MFSP). We provide an update on the state of Alberta’s system for obtaining financial security for the closure of oilsands and coal mines. Drew last provided an update in 2021, and that post describes the problems with the MFSP. He skipped 2022 because there was not much to say: it was bad news, but the same bad news as 2021. The numbers this year contain some notable surprises. Continue reading →

The 2024 Industry-Wide Closure Spend Lowered Without Explanation

By: Drew Yewchuk

Regulatory Bulletin Commented on: AER Bulletin 2023-31, Industry-Wide Closure Spend Requirement for 2024

PDF Version: The 2024 Industry-Wide Closure Spend Lowered Without Explanation

The Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) Bulletin 2023-31 sets the industry-wide closure spend requirement for 2024 at $700 million, lower than the $764 million forecasted last year. This is another post on how poorly and secretively the AER is handling the industry-wide closure spend requirement, following previous posts here and here. Continue reading →

Orphan Well Association Annual Report 2022/2023

By: Drew Yewchuk

Annual Report Commented On: Orphan Well Association, Annual Report 2022/23

 PDF Version: Orphan Well Association Annual Report 2022/2023

The 2022/2023 Orphan Well Association (OWA) annual report was posted to the OWA website on July 7, 2023. OWA annual reports provide insight into Alberta’s orphan oil and gas asset situation and the pace at which the problem is being addressed. This post summarizes the report and discusses the implications of the information for Alberta’s oil and gas liability problem. Continue reading →

Investigating the Orphan Fund Levy Using Freedom of Information Requests

By: Drew Yewchuk

Decision Commented on: Freedom of Information Request to the Alberta Energy Regulator 2021-G-0025

 PDF Version: Investigating the Orphan Fund Levy Using Freedom of Information Requests

This is a follow-up on an earlier ABlawg post from March 2022: “How is the Orphan Fund Levy Set? Alberta’s Oil and Gas Clean-up Costs in 2022”. That post was the result of work by the Public Interest Law Clinic on how Alberta’s oil and gas clean-up liabilities were being managed. That post tried to answer the question of how the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) was setting the amount of the Orphan Fund Levy. Continue reading →