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 →

It’s Not Easy Being Mean

By: Michael Ilg

Decision Commented On: Peterson v College of Psychologists of Ontario, 2023 ONSC 4685 (CanLII)

PDF Version: It’s Not Easy Being Mean

If there is anything worse than being seen as mean – as in saying words that others find harsh, hurtful, or distasteful – it is being mean and unpopular. The popular, by definition, collect social benefits from being mean, while the unpopular do not. Although this may read like the social code of a typical high-school, it also reflects the regulation of expression by professional societies in Canada, or at least Ontario, according to a recent decision of that Province’s Divisional Court in Peterson v College of Psychologists of Ontario, 2023 ONSC 4685 (CanLII). Continue reading →

The 2024 Industry-Wide Closure Spend Lowered Without Explanation

By: Drew Yewchuk

Regulatory Bulletin Commented on: AER Bulletin 2023-31, Industry-Wide Closure Spend Requirement for 2024

PDF Version: The 2024 Industry-Wide Closure Spend Lowered Without Explanation

The Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) Bulletin 2023-31 sets the industry-wide closure spend requirement for 2024 at $700 million, lower than the $764 million forecasted last year. This is another post on how poorly and secretively the AER is handling the industry-wide closure spend requirement, following previous posts here and here. Continue reading →

Can the Failure to Pay for Sexual Services Form the Basis of a Contractual Claim?

By: Jassmine Girgis

Case commented on: Sheehan v Samuelson, 2023 NSSM 27 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Can the Failure to Pay for Sexual Services Form the Basis of a Contractual Claim?

Pat and Al enter into a contract. Pat will drywall Al’s basement in exchange for $2,100. Pat drywalls Al’s basement but Al refuses to pay. Al breached his contractual obligations to Pat and would be liable for damages. Now, keep all the facts the same but assume that the service is sex work as opposed to dry walling – does that change the analysis at all? Continue reading →

Sometimes it is Completely Irrelevant Whether or not a Royalty Interest Amounts to an Interest in Land

By: Nigel Bankes

Case commented on: Enerplus Corporation v Harvest Operations Corp, 2021 ABQB 634 (CanLII), appeal dismissed, 2023 ABKB 482 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Sometimes it is Completely Irrelevant Whether or not a Royalty Interest Amounts to an Interest in Land

Harvest (70%), Orlen (15%), and Petrus (15%) are the working interest owners of certain oil and gas properties. Under the terms of a farmout agreement (in the form of the 1997 Farmout and Royalty Procedure of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen (CAPL)), back in the chain of title, Enerplus holds a gross overriding royalty interest (GORR) in the 70% interest currently held by Harvest. The terms of the GORR provided that: Continue reading →