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Mar 22 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This piece proves Premier and UCP don’t have a clue about oil & gas law or facts:

“Smith acknowledged Alberta first needs to figure out how to get orphan wells reclaimed before requiring renewables companies to do the same”

Nothing to figure out! 1/n
edmonton.ctvnews.ca/we-are-a-natur…
Either:

a) Ensure the Regulator charges a levy on industry each year to be sufficient to retire all orphans as required by law; or

b) Cabinet can name another body to do the job in accordance with law if the Regulator can’t or won’t, as also contemplated by law.
2/n
The law is Part 11 of the Oil & Gas Conservation Act. We just need to ensure it’s enforced or make the changes the law provides for when enforcement is an issue. No need to reinvent the wheel on the world’s best orphan law!

<canlii.ca/t/55xvl#sec68>

3/n
The clear problem is the Premier’s industry taskmasters and buddies, who put her up to the #RStarScam also referenced in the piece, have to pay for closure of orphans via the Orphan Fund levy. #RStar is a circumvention of orphan fund legislation:
4/n
m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAE…
In a province where oil & gas is everywhere and there are related liability, land use, public safety issues etc., we can’t afford an unbalanced, industry-captured approach. Management of resources has to be principled, fair, and in accordance with law, not a Smith free-for-all.

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More from @mark_dorin

Mark Dorin Profile picture
Mar 22
UCP Bill 1 also created Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act. The law is also SAID to be a clamp down on protestors, but it clearly allows for huge fines and jail terms:
- for those entering on a well site without excuse; or,
- for oil & gas personnel going off site.
1/n
To facilitate the discussion I drew in red boundaries of a well site said to be established by a 1962 "surface lease" below:
Inside the red boundary is "essential infrastructure" of the well licensee. Outside the red boundary is the agricultural "essential infrastructure".
2/n
Section 2 of the Act entitled "Prohibition" sets out the offence, which is to ENTER UPON "essential infrastructure" without lawful right, excuse, or justification:
3/n
Read 6 tweets
Mark Dorin Profile picture
Mar 22
Time to explain:

1. What is "CStar"? (Royalty reduction program to incentivize well drilling (2016, NDP govt.).

2. What is the proposed #RStar program and how would it extend CStar?

3. What royalties are (fee paid to owner of a mineral like oil, gas, coal by producer).
1/n
CStar simplified: Left graph shows how C* works. A formula that represents drilling costs (based on depth, horizontal reach and fracturing sand costs) is used to calculate C*. The well licensee pays reduced 5% royalty until the well produces product equaling C*.
2/n
Once C* is reached the higher, normal royalty rate (up to approx. 40% max.) varies based on factors such as type of product(s) produced by the well, market price, etc. until the well reaches Maturity Threshold, after which the percent royalty once again starts to reduce.
3/n
Read 10 tweets
Mark Dorin Profile picture
Mar 22
Premier has me blocked, but it would appear she accused the NDP of not liking facts by tweeting incorrect or irrelevant facts.

Improper use of the term “abandoned” oil sites by politicians in general is also a problem. Abandoned wells often confused with orphaned wells.
1/n
When NDP formed government, wells named as orphans by the AER increased because licensees went bankrupt. The governing party has no control and should not interfere with how the AER enforces the law governing the Orphan Fund. Bankruptcy is federal law.
2/n
Premier says NDP “weren’t making polluters pay”. Whether this statement is linked to the increase in so-called abandoned wells is not clear. Regardless it’s regulators and tribunals that make polluters pay, not the government of the day.
3/n
Read 8 tweets
Mark Dorin Profile picture
Mar 21
This claim that the AER does not need to consider the public interest is inaccurate. It can be traced back to when the AER’s enabling statute was drafted, but related regulations (below) that require consideration of what amounts to the public interest were not yet drafted.
1/n
The courts have also confirmed that the AER must consider the public interest and the AER denied metallurgical coal licenses and permits finding the project was not in the public interest. That decision still stands.
2/n
It’s true that the Responsible Energy Development Act is silent on the public interest or related factors for the AER to consider. However, section 15 of the REDA addresses this by referring to any factor it must consider such as in S. 3 of the REDA Regulations given above.
3/n
Read 5 tweets
Mark Dorin Profile picture
Mar 21
I must be an “activist” according to @BlairKing_ca’s definition. One Tweeting in support of the Alberta Energy Regulator had better be offering only extremely limited support like I do. This is because the AER just can’t manage to carry out its complex, difficult mandate.
1/n
I can prove what I said. In fact the record of AER Proceeding 411 and Decision Report No. 2022 ABAER 002 clearly document just how incompetent, captured, or both the AER is. Many other documents available from the AER’s website prove this.
2/n
I agree with @BlairKing_ca that there are some honest civil servants at the AER. But if they are ignorant of the law, poorly trained, don’t understand essential duty of procedural fairness, or are threatened or overruled by their captured superiors, they’re neutered.
3/n
Read 4 tweets
Mark Dorin Profile picture
Mar 21
Smiling Paul McLaughlin of @RuralMA on TV.

Has @PeterGuthrie99 provided a bold, courageous solution to oil and gas municipal tax delinquency?

Or is Ministerial Order 043/2023 to the Regulator just a "nothingburger" as per a law professor emeritus?
1/n
 edmonton.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2…
Prof. @BankesNigel breaks down the Ministerial Order from the Minister giving instructions to the @AER_news in this Tweet to the Minister: In short, he concludes it's a nothing burger drafted in haste:
2/n
The scandalous fact that UCP MLA's openly denounced the polluter pay principle by defeating Motion 505 in the #Ableg was overshadowed by the municipal tax "crackdown" news. Does this account for the hastily-drafted wording about "selling" well licenses (they can't be sold):
3/n Image
Read 9 tweets

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