Category: Oil & Gas Page 2 of 56

The Mature Asset Strategy for Alberta’s Oil and Gas Closure Liability Crisis: Where there is Smoke [and Mirrors], there is Fire

The Alberta government is poised yet again to change its policy direction for addressing the crisis of unfunded closure liabilities in the conventional oil and gas sector. The current yet-to-be-fully-implemented Liability Management Framework (LMF) was announced – to considerable fanfare – just five years ago, in what seemed like an exchange for $1 billion in federal COVID funding to be applied towards closure work on inactive and orphaned facilities. Now that this federal money has been spent (although $137 million was curiously not spent and had to be returned), and Alberta’s inactive well inventory appears to once again be growing, it is apparently time to abandon the LMF for a ‘new’ policy direction that, if nothing else, will once again delay actually dealing with the problem: enter the Mature Asset Strategy (MAS).

The Orphan Well Association Annual Report 2024/2025: The Sequoia Settlement Hits the Orphan Inventory

By Drew Yewchuk

On August 18, 2025

In Energy, Environmental, Oil & Gas

By: Drew Yewchuk

Matter Commented On: Orphan Well Association Annual Report 2024/2025

PDF Version: The Orphan Well Association Annual Report 2024/2025: The Sequoia Settlement Hits the Orphan Inventory

On July 15, 2025 the Orphan Well Association (OWA) released their Annual Report for 2024/2025. OWA annual reports provide insight into Alberta’s orphan oil and gas site problem and the pace at which the problem is being addressed (see the ABlawgs on past OWA annual reports: 2022/2023 and 2023/2024). The OWA annual report is separate from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)’s annual liability management performance reports, which ABlawg covered for 2022 and 2023. This blog summarizes the current state and foreseeable future of Alberta’s current orphan oil and gas site problem.

An Important Alberta Crown Lease Continuation Decision

By Nigel Bankes

On May 1, 2025

In Administrative Law, Land Use, Oil & Gas

By: Nigel Bankes

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.

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).

AER Decides to Prosecute Imperial Oil for the 2023 Kearl Oilsands Berm Overflow

By Drew Yewchuk

On January 22, 2025

In Administrative Law, Oil & Gas

By: Drew Yewchuk

Decisions Commented On: AER News Release 2025-01-17

PDF Version: AER Decides to Prosecute Imperial Oil for the 2023 Kearl Oilsands Berm Overflow

On January 17, 2025, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) announced they were laying nine charges against Imperial Oil Resources Limited (Imperial Oil) related to a berm overflow that occurred in February 2023. Unlike the previous AER regulatory penalties for Imperial Oil in August 2024, this means Imperial Oil faces a prosecution before the Alberta Court of Justice, bringing a different procedure and set of potential penalties than AER enforcement using the administrative penalty mechanism.