Alberta's energy minister says province won't use public money to clean up abandoned wells

Matthew Scace · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 18, 2025 8:26 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Alberta's vigor curate says the authorities volition not gully connected the nationalist purse to cleanable up abandoned lipid and state wells.

"We volition not enactment nationalist taxation dollars into cleaning up wells," Brian Jean told reporters Tuesday.

Jean was responding to questions from reporters astir a leaked draught study from a government-appointed sheet that suggested nationalist dollars whitethorn beryllium utilized to assistance warrant reclamation of astir 80,000 inactive wells.

The 71-page draught papers dated Jan. 28, obtained by The Canadian Press, includes recommendations specified arsenic creating government-owned companies that would get mature wells, extract the remaining hydrocarbons and usage those revenues to money the cleanup. It suggests those companies would beryllium backstopped by nationalist funds.

It besides recommends mounting up an security money financed by manufacture "but yet backstopped by the province."

Jean said helium hadn't seen the report.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the state is considering immoderate of the recommendations, but didn't accidental which ones.

The study volition beryllium released adjacent month, she said.

"We're rather excited astir it," Smith told the legislature successful question period.

'Trust has been broken': report

The state has agelong debated however to woody with abandoned wells mounting crossed Alberta contempt existing laws that necessitate companies to cleanable up their ain assets. The study was commissioned to analyse solutions.

The study acknowledges "increasing nationalist concern" that taxpayers volition beryllium connected the hook for industry's responsibilities. It besides says "the spot has been broken" betwixt the Alberta government, vigor industry, landowners and municipalities.

The study is authored by David Yager, a erstwhile oilfield services enforcement and one-time Wildrose enactment president who played a cardinal relation successful merging Alberta's competing blimpish parties successful 2017. He presently serves arsenic a peculiar advisor to Smith and sits connected the committee of Alberta's vigor regulator.

The relation representing Alberta's agrarian communities said connected Tuesday that it felt the consultation process was heavy tilted successful favour of the vigor sector. Forty-four of the report's 98 participants came from exploration, accumulation and oilfield services. Ten represented municipal governments, oregon agrarian and municipal agencies.

"This process decidedly was slanted towards manufacture and precise heavy focused with an manufacture lens," said Kara Westerlund, president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta and councillor for Brazeau County.

The relation asked the authorities to restart the process connected respective occasions, Westerlund said.

Resource instrumentality prof Martin Olszynski said the study contains immoderate affirmative recommendations, including a imaginable program to necktie closure securities to wells alternatively of the licence holder, meaning the wealth to reclaim the good stays with the good nary substance who owns it.

"There's a sizeable committedness and imaginable successful this suggestion," said Olszynski, with the University of Calgary.

But helium said galore of the remaining recommendations magnitude to further subsidization of the industry. He pointed to the study agreeing with good operators who accidental the programme needlessly drives up reclamation costs due to the fact that of inflexible one-size-fits-all rules.

"They're talking astir making it easier for manufacture to locomotion distant from these sites, and someone's going to carnivore that burden," Olszynski said.

Paul McLauchlin, reeve of Ponoka County and erstwhile president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta, said Jean's committedness contradicts respective of the large recommendations successful the report.

"I'm precise blessed to perceive that, if that's the case, but that's not what this study says," helium said.

McLauchlin said the recommendations were "frightening" and called for a reappraisal to instrumentality spot successful public. "Let's person a genuine engagement, not an industry-sided approach, but thing that's balanced. Everyone's determination for the close reasons," helium said.

"I was taught arsenic a kid, cleanable up your ain messes, and I don't privation to cleanable up idiosyncratic else's."

Nagwan Al-Guneid, the Opposition NDP's vigor critic, said the authorities is failing to clasp lipid and state companies accountable.