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Category: Oil & Gas Page 13 of 54

Two Manitoba Oil and Gas Lease Termination Cases

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On April 14, 2020

In Energy, Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Two Manitoba Oil and Gas Lease Termination Cases

Cases Commented On: Corex Resources Ltd. et al. v 2928419 Manitoba Ltd., 2020 MBQB 47 (CanLII) and 6660894 Canada Ltd. v 57110 Manitoba Ltd., 2020 MBQB 50 (CanLII)

Two Manitoba oil and gas lease termination cases; two days apart – March 10, 2020 and March 12, 2020; same judicial district (Brandon); same outcome (leases terminated); but different judges and significantly different analytical and doctrinal approaches. The Corex decision is grounded in the specialized body of case law which recognizes that oil and gas leases can terminate automatically in accordance with their terms. The 6660 decision takes a contractual approach and frames the case in terms of fundamental breach and repudiation. While both decisions get to the same point (the lease in each case had terminated), the reasoning in Corex is far more consistent with the relevant authorities.

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Alberta Court of Appeal Opines That Federal Carbon Pricing Legislation Unconstitutional

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On March 17, 2020

In Constitutional, Energy, Oil & Gas

By: Martin Olszynski, Nigel Bankes and Andrew Leach

PDF Version: Alberta Court of Appeal Opines That Federal Carbon Pricing Legislation Unconstitutional

Decision Commented On: Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2020 ABCA 74

Last month, the Alberta Court of Appeal released its decision in Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2020 ABCA 74, Alberta’s challenge to the constitutionality of the federal government’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, SC 2018, c 12 (GGPPA). Writing for a majority of three judges, Chief Justice Catherine Fraser concluded that the GGPPAcould not be upheld on the basis of Parliament’s residual power over matters of “peace, order, and good government” (POGG), nor any other potentially relevant federal head of power. Concurring in the result but not the analysis, Justice Wakeling also held that the GGPPA was unconstitutional. Justice Feehan, dissenting, would have upheld the law on the basis of POGG, and the “national concern” branch of that power in particular. The Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision thus stands in contrast to the earlier decisions of the Courts of Appeal of both Saskatchewan (Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act 2019 SKCA 40) (Saskatchewan Reference) and Ontario (Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2019 ONCA 544) (Ontario Reference), where a majority of judges in each court upheld the law as a valid exercise of the national concern branch of the POGG power.

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Provincial Cabinet has prima facie “engaged in unfair and abusive delay”

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On February 27, 2020

In Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Provincial Cabinet has prima facie “engaged in unfair and abusive delay”

Case Commented On: Prosper Petroleum Ltd v Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Alberta, 2020 ABQB 127 (CanLII)

Justice Romaine’s oral decision in this matter was released on February 10 and was widely reported in the press. We now have her written memorandum of decision (February 21).

In this case Prosper applied to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for the approval of its Rigel oilsands project under theOil Sands Conservation Act, RSA 2000, c 0-7 (OGCA). Under section 10(3)(a) of that Act the AER may approve an oil sands project on any terms and conditions that it considers appropriate if it considers the project to be in the public interest and with “the prior authorization of the Lieutenant Governor in Council”.

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No Implied Duties When Voting to Discharge an Operator

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On February 24, 2020

In Energy, Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: No Implied Duties When Voting to Discharge an Operator

Case Commented On: TAQA Bratani Ltd et al v RockRose UKCS8 LLC, [2020] EWHC 58 (Comm)

The operator serves a crucial role in the operation of any jointly owned oil and gas property and yet, depending on the terms of the joint operating agreement (JOA), it may be quite difficult to remove and replace an operator. In this decision of the Commercial Division of the High Court (England and Wales), Judge Pelling QC sitting as a judge of the High Court concluded that a group of dissentient joint operators (TAQA, JX and Spirit) (the claimants) were entitled to use a unanimous voting provision in the JOA to replace Marathon oil (MOUK) (acquired by RockRose (RRUK) effective 1 July 2019). Furthermore, there were no implied conditions that the claimants had to fulfill before they could exercise this power. Accordingly, Judge Pelling granted the claimants the declaration that they sought to the effect that the notices by which they purported to terminate the operatorships of various JOAs pertaining to the Brae Fields in the North Sea were valid and take effect in accordance with their terms.

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Clearing the Air on Teck Frontier (Extended ABlawg Edition)

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On February 13, 2020

In Energy, Environmental, Oil & Gas

By: Andrew Leach and Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: Clearing the Air on Teck Frontier (Extended ABlawg Edition)

Decision Commented On: Teck Resources Limited, Frontier Oil Sands Mine Project, Fort McMurray Area, 2019 ABAER 008/CEAA Reference No. 65505

A lot of ink is currently being spilled over the federal government’s upcoming decision to approve – or not – Teck Resources’ Frontier oil sands mine project. Premier Jason Kenney and members of his Cabinet insist that the Frontier project is critical to Alberta’s economic prosperity. The Mining Association of Canada’s Pierre Graton stresses that Teck completed a “world-class, independent and rigorous assessment” and that the project was determined to be in the public interest by the joint review panel (JRP) that reviewed it. Environmental groups argue that approval is fundamentally inconsistent with Canada’s climate change commitments. The project is being framed as both a test of Prime Minister Trudeau’s resolve to combat climate change and a referendum on the federal government’s support for Alberta’s economic interests and its commitment to national unity.

Our purpose here is not to take sides but rather to lay out the facts and relevant legal context as clearly as possible so that Albertans and indeed all Canadians can come to their own informed views about the desirability, or not, of this project and what, if any, larger importance to attach to the federal Cabinet’s eventual decision.

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