Abandoned Wells

• Alberta rural leaders on oil well cleanup plan: ‘How a fox would design a henhouse’

  RStar has been widely criticized by energy economists, who say it would transfer money to companies who don't need it to do work that most are doing anyway.

  Politics

  Nov 10, 2022
  
• New Alberta rules hope to address issue of abandoned oil and gas wells

  The new rules will require the energy industry to spend $422 million next year and slightly more in 2023 on cleanup and remediation.

  Canada

  Dec 1, 2021
  
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• Alberta energy minister says oil price spike won’t increase industry cleanup spending

  Sonya Savage says the province's recently adopted plan to fix the problem, which requires industry to spend $422 million next year and slightly more after that, is a fair approach.

  Economy

  Oct 8, 2021
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• Study finds abandoned oil and gas wells place unfair burden on landowners, taxpayers

  A report from the University of Calgary says the costs of Alberta's growing stock of abandoned and inactive oil and gas wells are falling unfairly on landowners and taxpayers.

  Canada

  May 20, 2021
• Alberta officials warned oilpatch faced ‘landslide’ of failures. Then coronavirus struck

  The provincial regulator warned in April that some companies were walking away from contaminated sites without properly shutting down.

  Investigations

  Dec 16, 2020
• Funding to clean up Saskatchewan’s orphan wells a ‘positive first-step’ says Premier Moe

  According to the Ministry of Energy and Resources, there are 159 orphan wells in Saskatchewan that require abandonment.

  Politics

  Apr 17, 2020
• Alberta test case: Planned sale of gas wells, pipelines raises cleanup concerns

  The possible transfer of hundreds of sour gas wells, pipelines and other facilities from energy giant Shell to a much smaller company has raised concerns about Alberta's efforts to ensure taxpayers don't get stuck with the cleanup bill.

  Economy

  Nov 14, 2019
• Alberta oil and gas producer cleanup cost estimates set too low, coalition says

  The Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project said the province's largest oil and gas companies are underestimating how much it will cost to clean up thousands of oil and gas wells drilled over past decades.

  Environment

  Jul 18, 2019
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• Bankrupt energy companies can’t abandon old oil wells, Supreme Court rules

  The Supreme Court of Canada says the trustee for a bankrupt Alberta energy company cannot simply walk away from unprofitable wells on agricultural land without having to clean up.

  Canada

  Jan 31, 2019
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• Farmers to address Supreme Court in fight against abandoned wells

  Thousands of farmers in Western Canada have been granted the right to appear before the Supreme Court of Canada to oppose a legal decision they say allows energy companies to walk away from unprofitable wells on their land.

  Crime

  Jan 18, 2018