An Alberta company has lost the right to manage its own well sites after the provincial regulator ruled the operations pose a safety risk and must be abandoned by the operator.A de-commissioned pumpjack is shown at a well head on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. Revitalize Energy’s operations, including its wells and pipelines, are now under the control of the Orphan Well Association following string of compliance problems.
When a licensee is unable to provide ongoing reasonable care over assets, the regulator can place it under the association's care. The drilling company operates across Alberta and Saskatchewan with the majority of its sites concentrated around the cross-border city of Lloydminster.The company has been on a sanction status since last November when the AER flagged the company as unable or unwilling to comply with regulatory requirements.
According to AER, the company can not provide proof of valid insurance. Emergency phone lines on its well sites had gone dead.De Pauw said the case is just one in a growing portfolio of sites requiring care from OWA. "Still, we have to undertake this work, so we are shutting in the wells, suspending them and trying to remove as much fluids as we can to mitigate the risk."The association is often called in when a company goes bankrupt and left with the tab for clean-up. In this case, the company remains active and is expected to reimburse the association."The company and the regulator need to figure out what is next for Revitalize.