Category Archives: Carbon Capture and Storage

Province Issues Request for Expressions of Interest for Carbon Sequestration Hub Proposals

PDF Version: Province Issues Request for Expressions of Interest for Carbon Sequestration Hub Proposals

Documents Commented On: Request for Expressions of Interest for Carbon Sequestration Hub Proposals, September 9, 2021 and Carbon Sequestration Tenure Management

In early May of this year, the Department of Energy issued Information Letter 2021-19 on Carbon Sequestration Tenure Management. In that letter, the Department indicated that it would be calling for proposals for sequestration hubs by “late spring” (at 2). I commented on the Information Letter here. Well, late spring morphed into late summer, and a call for proposals morphed into a Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) with the expectation that a Request for Full Project Proposals (RFPP) will be posted in December of this year and successful proponents selected by the end of March 2022 (Alberta Energy web page). Continue reading →

Renewed Interest in Potential Carbon Capture and Storage Projects in Alberta

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Renewed Interest in Potential Carbon Capture and Storage Projects in Alberta

Matter Commented On: Alberta Energy, Information Letter 2021-19, Carbon Sequestration Tenure Management, May 12, 2021

In a recent Information Letter, Alberta’s Department of Energy noted that it “has received a very large number of inquiries related to carbon sequestration tenure (i.e. projects that will undertake dedicated geologic storage [of carbon dioxide captured at industrial facilities within the province], without associated oil or gas recovery)” (at 1). This renewed interest is consistent with developments in the rest of the world, spurred on by the growing commitment to reach net zero carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 2050. See, for example, International Energy Agency, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (2021). Continue reading →

Province of Alberta Announces a Two-Step Process for Developing a New Climate Change Policy

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Province of Alberta Announces a Two-Step Process for Developing a New Climate Change Policy

Matter Commented On: Minister Shannon Phillips’ Press Conference on Alberta’s climate change strategy, June 25, 2015

A central element of Alberta’s climate change strategy is the Specified Gas Emitter Regulation (SGER), Alta Reg 139/2007. The SGER imposes greenhouse gas emissions intensity reduction obligations (ultimately 12%) on regulated emitters (facilities that emit in excess of 100,000 tonnes of CO_2e per year). A facility may achieve compliance in one of four ways: (1) meeting its target by producing its product with lower carbon inputs, (2) Alberta based offset credits (emission reductions over a business as usual scenario achieved by a non-regulated entity in accordance with an approved protocol), (3) emission performance credits (credits achieved by a regulated facility which beats its compliance target), or, (4) contribution of $15 per tonne (for excess emissions over the compliance target) to the Climate Change and Emission Management Fund (the so-called compliance price).

Continue reading →

Alberta Releases the Carbon Capture and Storage Quantification Protocol for Public Comment

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Alberta Releases the Carbon Capture and Storage Quantification Protocol for Public Comment

Document Commented On: Quantification Protocol for CO₂ Capture and Permanent Storage in Deep Saline Aquifers, Version: DRAFT for public comment, November 2014 and associated commentary on changes made from the version released for technical review

The Government of Alberta (GoA) continues to make progress in putting together the legal and regulatory framework for commercial scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the province. Such a legal and regulatory framework needs to address four types of issues: (1) property issues including the ownership of pore space and a scheme for leasing or disposing of rights to pore space; (2) regulatory or permitting rules for reviewing the merits of particular projects and to establish the terms and conditions under which projects might proceed; (3) liability issues; and (4) greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting issues to ensure that CCS projects are fully integrated into regulatory approaches for managing greenhouse gas emissions – in the case of Alberta this means integrating CCS projects into the Specified Gas Emitter Regulation, Alta Reg 139/2007 (SGER).

The key elements of the province’s framework to date (with links to previous posts on the topic), are as follows: Continue reading →

Time to Proclaim the Compulsory Unitization Provisions of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF version: Time to Proclaim the Compulsory Unitization Provisions of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act

Decision Commented On: Butte Energy Inc Application for Special Oil Well Spacing, Chigwell Field, 2013 ABERCB 005

Regular readers of this blog will know that this is not the first time that I have used this forum to call for the proclamation of the compulsory unitization provisions of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act (OGCA) RSA 2000, c O-6 (see here) but the facts surrounding this decision of the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB, or Board) present a particularly compelling case for compulsory unitization to deal with holdouts which might convince even the sceptics.