By: Nigel Bankes
PDF Version: Balancing Pool Must Fulfil its Statutory Obligations
Case Commented On: ENMAX PPA Management Inc v Balancing Pool, 2017 ABQB 718 (CanLII)
In this decision Justice Karen Horner has directed the Balancing Pool (BP) to fulfil its statutory obligations and reach a decision as to whether ENMAX had validly terminated its Keephills Power Purchase Arrangement (PPA) on the basis of the change of law clause in the PPA.
By: Jassmine Girgis
Case Commented On: Precision Drilling Canada Limited Partnership v Yangarra Resources Ltd, 2017 ABCA 378 (CanLII)
Introduction
This is a case about the legal test for civil fraud and whether a limitation of liability clause in a contract can and should exclude liability for fraud. The Alberta Court of Appeal allowed the appeal of the summary judgment and sent it to trial (see earlier Ablawg posts about lower court decisions here and here).
A court can only find fraud after weighing the evidence and applying the proper legal test. Assuming there is fraud, the court will then have to determine whether a proper interpretation of the exclusion of liability clause excludes fraud. If so, can a party that has engaged in fraud be allowed the benefit of the clause? In my opinion, it cannot, as doing so would be contrary to public policy and it would breach the duties of honest performance and good faith articulated by the Supreme Court in Bhasin v Hrynew, 2014 SCC 71 (CanLII).
By: Fenner L. Stewart
PDF Version: Orphan Well Association v Grant Thornton Limited: What’s at Stake in Redwater
Case Commented On: Orphan Well Association v Grant Thornton Limited, 2017 ABCA 124 (CanLII) (leave granted)
I. Introduction
This week, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) granted leave to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to hear its appeal of Orphan Well Association v Grant Thornton Limited (Redwater) (for more on the Redwater decision, see Nigel Bankes’ post). The Court of Appeal’s decision in Redwater has punched a hole in the AER’s program for ensuring that licencees of oil and gas wells have the capital necessary to satisfy their reclamation and abandonment obligations. The ruling effectively allows trustees in bankruptcy to disclaim worthless assets (e.g., non-producing wells where the abandonment process is not yet complete), while selling valuable assets (e.g., producing wells). Redwater grants secured creditors the best chance possible to be compensated from the bankrupt’s assets, while guaranteeing that Alberta’s oil and gas industry (and potentially taxpayers) pay the cost for the bankrupt’s reclamation and abandonment obligations. As things stand today, if Redwater is not reversed, even more wells will be orphaned, adding to the already alarming number on the books of the Orphan Well Association (OWA).
By: Nigel Bankes
PDF Version: Lease Terminates by Reason of Wells Shut-in for Producing in Excess of the Prescribed Gas to Oil Ratio
Case Commented On: Canadian Natural Resources Limited v Rife Resources Ltd., 2017 SKQB 307 (CanLII)
Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) held a petroleum and natural gas lease for section 26 from Rife and Canpar.
By: Nigel Bankes
Note: This post is a revised version of remarks presented at the Fifth Green Regs and Ham Breakfast convened by the Environmental Law Centre, Edmonton on October 3, 2017. The session was entitled “Municipal Environmental Jurisdiction: Contaminated sites and hockey fights” but my remarks principally addressed liability for abandonment and reclamation of oil and gas wells and facilities.
Good morning. I acknowledge that we meet on the traditional territory of Treaty 7 First Nations, the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina, and Stoney First Nations. It is particularly important to acknowledge that connection given that we are talking today about our stewardship and custodial responsibilities for the land (and perhaps more specifically our failings).
There are three parts to the presentation: first, I will offer some remarks on the Court of Appeal’s decision in Redwater; second, some comments on a recent paper from the CD Howe Institute dealing with oil wells (see, Benjamin Dachis, Blake Shaffer and Vincent Thivierge, “All’s Well that Ends Well: Addressing End-of-Life Liabilities for Oil and Gas Wells”) and third, I will conclude with some more philosophical observations on the importance of the principle of intergenerational equity.
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