Author: Nigel Bankes Page 1 of 89

Nigel Bankes is emeritus professor of law at the University of Calgary. Prior to his retirement in June 2021 Nigel held the chair in natural resources law in the Faculty of Law.

Case Commented On: APL Oil & Gas (1998) Ltd v Alberta, 2025 ABKB 201 (CanLII)

PDF Version: An Important Alberta Crown Lease Continuation Decision

In the natural resources sector, as in so many other industrial sectors that require major capital investments in physical assets, security of tenure for those engaging in exploration activities (resource lessees) is foundational. And a crucial part of security of tenure for a resource lessee is the expectation that, if they make a discovery, they will be able to hold on to that discovery at least until they have recovered all their investment including a return on risk capital, or better yet, until the discovery has been fully exploited and is no longer profitable to produce. On the other hand, the resource owner (whether private or public (Crown)) wants to ensure diligent exploration and development by the resource operator/lessee, failing which the property should be returned to the owner so as to allow the owner to explore other potential lessees.

Disaster in the Making: UCP Government Grabs Control of the Alberta Law Foundation’s Funding Decisions

By Nigel Bankes

On April 28, 2025

In Access to Justice

By: Shaun Fluker, Jonnette Watson Hamilton, and Nigel Bankes

Bill Commented On: Bill 39 Financial Statutes Amendment Act 2025 (31^st Leg, 1^st Session, second reading)

PDF Version: Disaster in the Making: UCP Government Grabs Control of the Alberta Law Foundation’s Funding Decisions

Mixed together with an omnibus financial bill in the current session of the Legislature, the UCP government proposes to threaten the independence of the Alberta Law Foundation (Foundation), and in doing so, the independence of the legal profession. The bill also jeopardizes the core funding that the Foundation has historically provided to support not-for-profit organizations that help the Foundation deliver on its mandate, including poverty law clinics and those involved in public legal education. The Minister of Finance introduced Bill 39: Financial Statutes Amendment Act 2025 for first reading in the Legislature on March 10 and the Bill is currently in second reading. Section 7 of Bill 39 proposes to amend the Legal Profession Act, RSA 2000, c L-8 to change the rules governing how the Foundation allocates funding grants by inserting a large measure of political control, and to require the Foundation to increase its funding contribution to Legal Aid Alberta. Consistent with amendments imposed on Legal Aid Alberta by the UCP government in 2024, the UCP government seeks to give the Minister of Justice control over the funding of access to justice programs. In response to these proposed amendments, two of the three board members appointed to the Foundation by the Alberta UCP government have resigned.

The AER Panel Dismisses Appeal in Induced Seismicity Case But Reinforces the Case For a Regional Approach

By Nigel Bankes

On April 7, 2025

In Administrative Law, Energy

By: Nigel Bankes

Decision Commented On: Obsidian Energy Ltd. Appeal of Environmental Protection Order March 7, 2025, 2025 ABAER 002

PDF Version: The AER Panel Dismisses Appeal in Induced Seismicity Case But Reinforces the Case For a Regional Approach

In this decision, an appeal panel of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) confirmed that the Compliance Liability Management (CLM) Branch had sufficient warrant to issue a remedial Environmental Protection Order against Obsidian on the basis that CLM could reasonably form the opinion that Obsidian’s disposal activities were responsible for induced seismicity events. The decision reveals the complexity of determining cause and effect in cases such as this where there are multiple disposal injectors in the same area. As a result, the decision also supports the need for a proactive regional approach to the use of pore space for disposal (and perhaps other) purposes.

The Municipal District of Ranchland Stands Strong Against More Coal Exploration

By Nigel Bankes

On March 26, 2025

In Administrative Law, Energy

By: Nigel Bankes

Case Commented On: Ranchland (Municipal District No 66) v Alberta Energy Regulator, 2025 ABCA 105 (CanLII).

PDF Version: The Municipal District of Ranchland Stands Strong Against More Coal Exploration

The short version of this post is that Justice April Grosse of the Alberta Court of Appeal has granted the MD of Ranchland permission to appeal four questions of law relating to Minister Jean’s cancellation of the coal moratorium and subsequent, but related, decisions of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to reinstate certain coal exploration permits (CEPs). Drew Yewchuk and I examined Minister Jean’s decision to cancel the moratorium here: Coal Moratoriums, They Come and Go. That post provides links to a series of ABlawg posts going back to 2020 dealing with the law and regulation of coal projects in Alberta.

What follows provides context for the decision on this permission to appeal application as well as some analysis of the decision.

Can An Oil and Gas Operator Carry On Bitcoin Operations Under The Terms of a Surface Lease?

By Nigel Bankes

On March 20, 2025

In Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

Decisions Commented On: Persist Oil and Gas Inc v Flowers, 2023 ABLPRT 236 (CanLII) (the ROE Decision), Flowers v Persist Oil and Gas Inc., 2024 ABLPRT 271 (CanLII) (the Compensation Decision), and Flowers v Persist Oil and Gas Inc., 2025 ABKB 142 (CanLII) (the KB Decision)

PDF Version: Can An Oil and Gas Operator Carry On Bitcoin Operations Under The Terms of a Surface Lease?

Bitcoin operators have an incentive to co-locate with natural gas production sites that offer the opportunity to self-generate electricity to power the bitcoin operations without needing to pay interconnection charges. Just bring some portable generators onto the site, add the necessary computing capacity and let it rip! While other approvals will usually be required, some bitcoin operators have played fast and loose until brought into line through the enforcement actions of the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). I wrote about one example of this a few years ago in “Off-Grid Energy for Bitcoin Mines in Alberta: A Problematic Legal Regime” (2021).