Is there a Need for New Policies for Inactive and Orphan Wells? /

In July 2017, the AER asked the Supreme Court to review the ruling [17]; the case is yet to be discussed and a decision to be announced. [...] The OWA has reclaimed 463 sites for the last nine years with an The AER determines the number of wells each licensee average cost of $230 thousand to handle a single site must bring into compliance by dividing the number of [CERI, OWA]. [...] In Saskatchewan, at the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year, a The goal of the AER is that all non-compliant inactive total of 99 orphan wells were remaining on the balance wells will be brought into compliance by the end of year (394 have been classified as orphans for the length of the five (April 2020), that is, they are either activated, government program and 295 were abandoned) [13]. [...] The costs per well in Saskatchewan were lower than in Alberta, as Wells included in the IWCP are all low and medium risk, Saskatchewan spent $2.9 million in 2016-17 on posing minimal risk to the public and the environment on abandoning 76 wells, 63 flowlines and various an individual basis, according to the AER [10]. [...] According if an individual company goes bankrupt, a regulator or a to the government, the loan will allow the OWA to specialized association or fund steps in to fulfil the duty.