In late May, the Supreme Court of Canada (the SCC) denied an application for leave to appeal a decision of the Court of Appeal of Alberta (the ABCA), which, in turn, had denied leave to appeal of the decision of the Court of...more
A coalition of 17 states led by Nebraska is suing California for creating ZEV standards for trucking fleets, saying the state’s rule violates the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. California’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation,...more
On December 14, 2023, Alberta's Minister of Environment and Protected Areas (EPA), Rebecca Schulz, announced the launch of two new pilot projects aimed at improving and expediting the well site reclamation process in the...more
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has confirmed that the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Ltd., 2019 SCC 5 [Redwater], applies in Saskatchewan. The Court of Appeal also affirmed...more
The potential for repurposing old oil and gas wells for renewable energy raises a number of complex legal issues in Pennsylvania. In recent years, the federal government has been exploring renewable energy generation by using...more
Before signing oil and gas leases, landowners should pay close attention to lease provisions asking for warranties and representations about prior oil and gas development on the land. These provisions are often buried in a...more
Last year, the Department of Interior (DOI) updated its estimate of the number of orphaned or abandoned wells across the United States, documenting 130,000—more than double its previous estimate. The bipartisan 2021...more
The Opportune 2023 Study has been conducted to independently calculate the OCS plugging and abandonment (P&A) liability, assess the risk such liability poses to the U.S. taxpayer, and perform a cost-benefit analysis of how...more
For more than 100 years, companies and private landowners in the United States have drilled tens of millions of wells to extract oil and gas. When oil and gas wells reach the end of their productive lifespans, the owners and...more
The Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan has rejected another attempt by a rural municipality to gain priority in an oil and gas receivership. This follows the recent Alberta Decision in Orphan Well Association v Trident...more
Two recent insolvencies have resulted in the number of orphaned wells and facilities in Saskatchewan ballooning to over 4000. To reduce the burden on the Saskatchewan orphan fund, The Oil and Gas Tenure Registry Regulations...more
The Alberta Court of King's Bench (the Court) has confirmed that the abandonment and reclamation obligations owed to the Orphan Well Association (OWA) and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) rank in priority to claims of...more
The United States Department of Interior (“DOI”) released on April 12th guidance (“Guidance”) to the states for application of the first $775 million in initial grant funding for plugging orphaned oil and gas wells. The...more
On March 30, 2022, the Alberta Court of Appeal issued its much anticipated decision in Manitok Energy Inc (Re), 2022 ABCA 117 [Manitok ABCA] which considered whether, as a result of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in...more
On March 25, 2022, the Alberta Court of Appeal issued its decision in PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc v Perpetual Energy Inc, 2022 ABCA 111. Briefly, the Court held that abandonment and reclamation obligations (ARO) of oil and gas...more
On March 31st, President Biden unveiled a massive $2 trillion infrastructure and clean energy plan called the American Jobs Plan that aims, in part, to tackle what the White House calls two of the greatest challenges of our...more
The American Jobs Plan - On March 31, 2021, the Biden administration released the American Jobs Plan (the “Infrastructure Plan”), which is a proposal that, if ultimately enacted, aims to modernize outdated infrastructure,...more
On July 30, 2020, the Government of Alberta announced that it will introduce a new oil and gas Liability Management Framework over the coming months. The framework is intended to accelerate the responsible reclamation of oil...more
On May 13, 2020, British Columbia announced how it will administer the $120 million in federal funds earmarked to clean up orphaned and inactive oil and gas wells under COVID-19 Economic Response Plan for the Canada's Energy...more
Find out why the recent collapse in oil prices will likely accelerate the number of "orphaned" wells needing to be plugged by the Texas Railroad Commission (TRCC)....more
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice made one of the most curious gubernatorial moves in recent years recently, when he vetoed a bill that would have directed money to plug the Mountain State’s approximately 4,000 abandoned gas...more