Oil&Gas

Oil&Gas


How secrecy and regulatory capture drove Alberta’s oil and gas liability crisis

This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. “A hustle in the oil patch”, a “dirty legacy”: These are just a couple of the ways that the escalating costs of abandoning and reclaiming non-producing […]

Read More


Embattled energy company fights regulator over seizure of thousands of wells

CALGARY — An embattled Calgary energy company is fighting the provincial regulator’s decision to seize thousands of its inactive wells. AlphaBow Energy has complained to the Alberta ombudsman and the province’s information and privacy commissioner over the Alberta Energy Regulator transferring control of more than 6,000 wells, pipeline segments and other facilities to the Orphan […]

Read More


Alberta’s ‘war room’ is back with massive ad spend revealed in annual report

EDMONTON — New documents outline a massive increase in public funding for the Canadian Energy Centre’s campaign to change attitudes toward Alberta’s oil and gas. An agency founded by Alberta’s United Conservative government to fight what it calls misinformation about the province’s industry and otherwise known as the “war room,” the centre’s most recent annual […]

Read More


As fuel taxes plummet, states weigh charging by the mile instead of the tank

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Evan Burroughs has spent eight years touting the virtues of an Oregon pilot program charging motorists by the distance their vehicle travels rather than the gas it guzzles, yet his own mother still hasn’t bought in. Margaret Burroughs, 85, said she has no intention of inserting a tracking device on her […]

Read More


Alberta information commissioner to investigate Kearl tailings leak notifications

EDMONTON — Alberta’s information commissioner has started an investigation into how the province’s energy regulator notified the public about tailings pond releases at Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine. “Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod has launched an investigation into the Alberta Energy Regulator concerning AER’s consideration of the public interest override,” said a news release Wednesday […]

Read More


First Nations say Alberta’s oilsands mine security reform unlikely to fix problems

EDMONTON — Alberta is preparing to change how it ensures oilsands companies are able to pay for the mammoth job of cleaning up their operations, but critics fear a year of consultations hasn’t been enough to avoid repeating past mistakes. “There’s no signal to me from this government that they are going to hold industry […]

Read More