There are tens of thousands of dormant oil and gas wells sitting idle across Alberta — an inventory the province wants to shrink in the coming months with the help of $1 billion from the federal government.
But as Alberta implements its strategy for cleaning up orphan and inactive wells this week, there are calls for the provincial government to also look at using some of the funds to provide new opportunities for some sites.
Advocates say infrastructure like wellbores, roads and pad space that could find other energy uses, including geothermal, micro-solar, hydrogen, recovery of lithium, or carbon capture and storage.
“There’s a broader opportunity that could also be leveraged at the same time — that’s something that we really don’t want to miss,” said Marla Orenstein, director of the natural resources centre at the Canada West Foundation.
Alberta is rolling out its plans this week for cleaning up old well sites across the province, creating thousands of jobs. (Orphan Well Association)
“There’s a subset of those sites, a rather large subset, that are really good candidates for … other energy purposes.”
Alberta has nearly 3,000 orphan wells, oil and gas wells that haven’t been remediated by their often-bankrupt owners. There are more than 90,000 inactive wells, which remain in corporate hands but sit idle for economic reasons.
This month, Ottawa announced it would provide Alberta with $1 billion to help clean up those sites, including a $200-million loan to the Orphan Well Association, an industry-funded group that cleans up orphaned infrastructure.
The provincial government has since announced oilfield services firms will be able to apply through an online portal starting Friday for grants under the oilfield rehabilitation program.
Orenstein said the money — and the jobs the work will create — is a good start. But she says there’s also an opportunity to innovate and do more with some, not all, of the sites.
“If we can figure out how to direct that money toward not just reclaiming but also re-purposing, we’ll provide a real advantage to the province and the country,” she said.
Provincial program launches May 1
Nothing in the plans that the province has announced so far includes funds for re-purposing sites. The focus has been on cleaning up the sites and, in doing so, putting thousands of people back to work quickly.
Tristan Goodman, president of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada, agrees with the focus, saying the vast majority of the funds should go to the clean-up work that was at the core of Ottawa’s announcement.
But Goodman agreed there is potential in re-purposing older wells for geothermal in some circumstances, adding he wouldn’t object if a small amount of funding was used to do more work in that area.
“There has been work done in the past in Alberta that has found there is limited opportunity for that — not in a negative way — but they found there definitely is opportunity,” he said.
“But it’s not as simple as every well will be a geothermal candidate.”
Supporters of re-purposing dormant wells certainly believe it’s worth investing some of the funding to exploring a variety of options for the old well sites.
Juli Rohl, a longtime advocate for re-purposing old sites, said doing so could help create additional revenue sources for the economy.
“If you could actually leverage some of that funding that looks at how much do you need to reclaim a site in order to be able to re-purpose it for future uses, … then you could actually develop projects,” she said.
One of the easiest examples is how an old site could be used for solar projects, Rohl said, as it may already have the road access, the lease, a gravelled site and the nearby power lines to tie into.
But there are challenges.
Rohl said one of the big ones has been questions of liability at these old sites.
“That’s always been sort of a legal challenge to all of this,” said Rohl, who works for the Energy Futures Lab.
“These startups that are doing new technology, which could be the ones that are re-purposing it, don’t have the ability to take on huge amounts of liability right off the get go. And the operators, who are holding this liability, want to get it off their books.
“So sorting out who has the liability and how that’s handled in the future is the biggest question and the biggest challenge for this, because you’d want to be able to do it responsibly.”
However, she said the new federal funding could maybe help with improving the old sites to the point where the majority of the liability is resolved.
Orenstein said there also regulatory changes that would be required, like altering rules that say industrial sites have to be returned to their original conditions before they can be re-purposed for new energy uses.
But if the government wants to make things happen, Rohl said there are companies ready to go.
“It’s not as though we need to wait for the technology to catch up — we just need the framework for collaboration.”
The idea re-purposing old wells isn’t the only example of how traditional energy skill, resources and infrastructure are being reexamined for use in new ways.
On Thursday, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) and the Petroleum Services Association of Canada joined with geothermal developers in forming a new partnership.
The goal of the alliance is to promote Canadian geothermal development and create jobs for displaced oil and gas drilling contractors and oilfield service workers.
“Drilling for deep geothermal resources requires advanced drilling technology and expertise and can put drilling rigs and associated services to work in this current economic slowdown,” the Geothermal Collaboration Network said in a release.
“Each active drilling rig can create 175 direct and indirect jobs, putting hard-working Canadians back to work on renewable energy.”
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
