This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.The current spike in oil prices is no reason to force industry to spend more on cleaning up Alberta’s tens of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells, says the province’s energy minister.
Allowing Rocky Mountain coal lease transfers during debate sends wrong signal, environmental group says “It’s the last, best chance to fix the issue,” she said. “It doesn’t seem fair to have the Alberta public face the cleanup costs when it’s the global shareholders of these companies that are going to see the benefits of those higher prices.”
That’s enough to speed up the process, said Elisabeth Besson of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.“These policies, together with the [federal] program, will significantly enhance the rate of closure of inactive oil and natural gas sites,” she said in an e-mail. “We continue to work with the Alberta government to advance policies and regulations which ensure substantial progress in the timely closure of inactive sites.