Category Archives: Carbon Capture and Storage

The Department of Energy and Minerals Finally Releases the Text of a Ministerial Order Delegating Technical CCS-Related Decision-Making Authority to the Alberta Energy Regulator

By: Nigel Bankes

Matter Commented On: Minister of Energy, Ministerial Order 060/2023, Delegating certain powers of the Minister under the Mines and Minerals Act and the Carbon Sequestration Tenure Regulation, to persons holding particular positions within the Alberta Energy Regulator, April 25, 2023

PDF Version: The Department of Energy and Minerals Finally Releases the Text of a Ministerial Order Delegating Technical CCS-Related Decision-Making Authority to the Alberta Energy Regulator

On April 25, 2023 Peter Guthrie, then Minister of Energy for the Province of Alberta, signed Ministerial Order 060/2023 delegating certain of the Minister’s powers with respect to carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects to staff within the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). In my view this, in principle, is a sound decision and reflects the recommendations made by the Steering Committee of Alberta’s Regulatory Framework Assessment more than a decade ago. In the interests of transparency, I disclose that I was a member of that Committee. The Committee took the view that while the Department of Energy (now the Department of Energy and Minerals) should have responsibility for decisions related to carbon sequestration tenure and broad questions of policy, responsibility for the more technical decisions related to a CCS project, such as the conditions for issuing a closure certificate, should be made by the AER. The distinction between these different types of decisions had been blurred with the adoption of the CCS amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act, RSA 2000, c M-15 (MMA) in 2010. Continue reading →

The Crown Pore Space Lease and Pore Space Unit Agreement

By: Nigel Bankes

Documents commented on: The Crown Pore Space Lease and Pore Space Unit Agreement

PDF Version: The Crown Pore Space Lease and Pore Space Unit Agreement

As I discussed in my last ABlawg post the Government of Alberta (GoA) recently announced the adoption of the Small-Scale and Remote (SSR) Carbon Sequestration Tenure. As part of this announcement, the GoA also released a standard form pore space lease (PSL) and a model Pore Space Unit Agreement (PSUA). This is my attempt to unpack these two agreements and to offer what I hope will be understood as constructive comments on these documents. Continue reading →

Alberta Rolls Out Yet Another Form of Sequestration Agreement

By: Nigel Bankes

Document commented on: Mineral Rights Information Bulletin, 2023-01, Small-Scale and Remote (SSR) Carbon Sequestration Tenure, September 14, 2023

PDF Version: Alberta Rolls Out Yet Another Form of Sequestration Agreement

The Government of Alberta (GoA) is experimenting with several different forms of carbon sequestration tenure. But while the initial development of sequestration tenure and policy between 2010 and 2013 was open and transparent – as reflected in the Regulatory Framework Assessment – there is very little in the way of public explanation for the more recent changes, and, as noted in previous ABlawg posts (my last post contains relevant links), very little in terms of overall transparency. Continue reading →

A Blog with Two Titles: (1) The Current Status of Monitoring, Measurement and Verification Requirements for Carbon Capture and Storage Projects in Alberta, and (2) When Does a Ministerial Order Have to be Published?

By: Nigel Bankes

Documents commented on: AER Bulletin 2023-29, July 27, 2023; a new edition of AER Directive 065: Resources Applications for Oil and Gas Reservoirs, July 27, 2023; and Ministerial Order MO 60/2023

PDF Version: A Blog with Two Titles: (1) The Current Status of Monitoring, Measurement and Verification Requirements for Carbon Capture and Storage Projects in Alberta, and (2) When Does a Ministerial Order Have to be Published?

As the title suggests this post addresses two matters. First it refers to some recent developments in Monitoring, Measurement and Verification (MMV) requirements for carbon capture and storage projects (CCS) in Alberta, and in particular the allocation (and now, it seems, a reallocation) of the regulatory responsibility for these requirements as between the recently rebranded Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). Second, it addresses the more general question of when ministerial orders have to be published. While these matters appear to be unrelated they are in fact joined at the hip, as I hope to demonstrate. Continue reading →

Alberta’s Carbon Capture & Storage Land Grab And The Potential For Conflicts Of Subsurface Rights

By: Nick Ettinger, Renée Matthews & Rudiger Tscherning

PDF Version: Alberta’s Carbon Capture & Storage Land Grab And The Potential For Conflicts Of Subsurface Rights

Matter Commented On: Alberta’s Request for Full Project Proposals for Carbon Capture and Sequestration Hubs

On March 3, 2022, the Government of Alberta issued a province-wide Request for Full Project Proposals (RFPP) for carbon capture and sequestration hubs (CCS Hubs). This followed a more limited RFPP for CCS Hub(s) to service emissions from Alberta’s Industrial Heartland (IH), which closed on February 1, 2022. By the end of March 2022, Alberta Energy is expected to announce the successful proponents of the IH RFPP, who will receive permits to evaluate large amounts of publicly owned pore space for the eventual permanent sequestration of millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂). The RFPP for the rest of the province closes on May 2, 2022. Nigel Bankes has previously commented on the evolution of this process for pore space tenure dispositions (see here, here, and here). We’ve previously described the potential for conflicts arising from the subsurface convergence of CCS and critical minerals such as helium and lithium in Alberta (read our article here). This post examines the potential for conflicts of competing subsurface rights and interests arising from the current legislative scheme and the province’s rapid roll-out of CCS Hub dispositions. Continue reading →