Years after an insolvency proceeding is closed, can a solvent co-lessee/working interest participant (WIP) still be on the hook for their former partner’s share of unpaid Crown royalties? A recent Alberta Court of Appeal...more
In late May, the Supreme Court of Canada (the SCC) denied an application for leave to appeal a decision of the Court of Appeal of Alberta (the ABCA), which, in turn, had denied leave to appeal of the decision of the Court of...more
A recent decision out of the Alberta Court of Appeal found that as soon as a company handed over their investigative reports to regulators in connection with a pipeline incident, privilege over the reports was lost....more
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has confirmed that the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Ltd., 2019 SCC 5 [Redwater], applies in Saskatchewan. The Court of Appeal also affirmed...more
As discussed in our previous blog post, Unpaid Municipal Taxes Will Impact New AER Licenses and License Transfers, the Alberta Minister of Energy released Ministerial Order 043/2023 (the Order) on March 16, 2023. The Order...more
The Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan has rejected another attempt by a rural municipality to gain priority in an oil and gas receivership. This follows the recent Alberta Decision in Orphan Well Association v Trident...more
On March 20, 2023, the Alberta Minister of Energy, Peter Guthrie, released ministerial order 043/2023 (the Order). The Order, authorized pursuant to the Responsible Energy Development Act, requires the Alberta Energy...more
Two recent insolvencies have resulted in the number of orphaned wells and facilities in Saskatchewan ballooning to over 4000. To reduce the burden on the Saskatchewan orphan fund, The Oil and Gas Tenure Registry Regulations...more
While the popularity of zombies in film and popular culture has grown exponentially in the last decade, participants in the Western Canadian oil patch have increasingly been dealing with a different kind of zombie—"zombie...more
One of the main benefits to a purchaser who buys oil and gas assets in a proceeding under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act or a receivership is the near-absolute quieting of title via a "vesting order." In Manitok...more
On March 30, 2022, the Alberta Court of Appeal issued its much anticipated decision in Manitok Energy Inc (Re), 2022 ABCA 117 [Manitok ABCA] which considered whether, as a result of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in...more
The Alberta Court of Appeal recently considered the latest Supreme Court of Canada decision on pure economic loss in a decision involving a proposed class action for damages related to a pipeline spill. In its decision, the...more
On December 8, 2021, Alberta proclaimed in force Bill 77, the Municipal Government (Restoring Tax Accountability) Amendment Act, 2021 (the Amending Act), which is intended to strengthen municipal budgets following reports by...more
The Government of Saskatchewan has recently implemented a number of regulatory changes to assist energy projects. These changes further expand and refine the Ministry of Energy and Resources 2019 Petroleum Innovation...more
Nearly a year ago, the Government of Alberta announced its new Liability Management Plan. Through this plan, the Alberta Government provided the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) with additional tools to ensure that sites are...more
The Alberta Energy Regulator introduced the proposed Manual XXX: Contamination Management on July 7, 2021. This manual is intended to assist companies in understanding the requirements and expectations under the Remediation...more
In our March 2021 blog on the difference between Alberta and Saskatchewan's approach to Oil and Gas liability management, we commented on the differing approaches to liability management introduced in each province following...more
Recent information provided by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) in its Licensee Capability Assessment: What We Heard document and draft Licensee Life-Cycle Management Directive (Draft LLCM Directive) provides guidance for...more
On May 12, 2021, the Government of Alberta issued a statement to announce that it will now be granting carbon sequestration rights through a competitive process. Carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) is a method where...more
Following the Redwater decision (Orphan Well Association v Grant Thornton Ltd., 2019 SCC 5), and the steadily increasing number of orphaned oil and gas sites, governments have been evaluating opportunities to modify their...more
Amendments to the Oil and Gas Conservation Rules and Pipeline Rules to advance the Government of Alberta's new Liability Management Framework and address Alberta's inventory of abandoned wells, facilities and pipelines came...more
This is the second in a two-part series on wellsite repurposing projects in the Canadian oilpatch. Part one looked at the background and advantages of repurposing projects....more
On September 18, 2020, the British Columbia government announced that the first half of a $100-million fund earmarked for cleaning up dormant wells has been disbursed. The Dormant Sites Reclamation Program is dedicated to...more
This is the first in a two-part series on wellsite repurposing projects in the Canadian oilpatch. Part one provides background and context to the emergence of repurposing projects. Part two will look at challenges,...more
On August 7, 2020, the Government of Alberta launched Period 4 of the Site Rehabilitation Program (SRP) and released further details about the SRP, including information about the submission process for abandonment work and...more
8/13/2020
/ Abandonment ,
Canada ,
Climate Change ,
Construction Project ,
Environmental Remediation Costs ,
Environmental Site Assessment ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
First Nations ,
National Environmental Policies ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Wells ,
Pipelines ,
Plant Closures ,
Rehabilitation and Restoration Plans ,
Service Contracts ,
Site Remediation ,
Subcontractors ,
Tribal Corporations