regulatory bulletin for the oil & gas industry in western ......paramount resources ltd....
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Regulatory Bulletin for the Oil & Gas Industry in Western Canada June 2018
FEDERALTrans Mountain Pipeline Update
Mergers and Acquisitions
ALBERTA
Changes to Alberta Culture and Tourism’s Online Permitting and Clearance System
Changes to Remediation Certificate Applications
On 20 June 2018, Alberta Culture and Tourism implemented a new fee system that applies to new and amendment Historic Resources Act applications for commercial and industrial developments. New applications will cost a one-time fee of $500.00. Applications requesting an amendment will be accepted if applicants have already been issued a 10-digit Historic Resources Management (HRM) project number. Fees for amendment or supplemental applications are $250.00. More information regarding the application process can be found on the Online Permitting and Clearance (OPaC) webpage.
Effective 1 January 2019, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) Remediation Certificate Program applications will change as a result of amendments to the former Remediation Certificate Regulation. Beginning 1 January 2019, the AEP will offer two types of remediation certificates:1) “Limited” remediation certificate – certifying an area has been remediated2) “Site-based” remediation certificate – certifying an entire site has been remediatedRemediation certificate applications can be submitted, and will continue to the accepted, under the current Remediation Certificate Program, until the expanded program comes into effect.
Following the acquisition of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline (the Pipeline) by the Federal Government, challenges remain for the successful construction of the Pipeline. Some of these include: • Kinder Morgan must obtain more than 340 additional permits in order to fully construct the pipeline, and no new
applications have been submitted since the acquisition was announced. Shareholder approval of the Pipeline sale to the Federal Government is slated to take effect in late Q3 or early Q4 of 2018. It is unclear how much permitting effort will be sustained by Kinder Morgan in the meantime, and how much construction is feasible until these permits are obtained.
• Additionally, the National Energy Board (NEB) has issued a request for information (RFI) for support in monitoring traditional media, open source and public social media data, for ‘security threats, risks and incidents’ related to its operations. Whilst the RFI is not intended to be specific to any project, application or issue, this topic has potential to provoke criticism from opponents of the Pipeline who may be concerned about the level of monitoring the Federal Government could undertake on those who are opposed to the Pipeline.
Paramount Resources Ltd. (Paramount) has entered into an agreement with Strath Resources Ltd. (Strath), to sell its non-core oil and gas properties and related infrastructure at Resthaven/Jayar, in the Kakwa region, for $340 million CAD.Baytex Energy Corp. (Baytex) and Raging River Exploration Inc. (Raging River) have agreed to a strategic merger of the two companies, in a deal valued at $2.3 billion CAD. The companies will operate under the Baytex name.
Tanya Cairns, M.Sc., B.Comm. Manager, Regulatory
www.IntegratedSustainability.ca
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DID YOU KNOW?The Alberta Society of Professional Biologists (ASPB) held the 7th Annual Wetland
Workshop on 14 May 2018 which discussed ongoing implementation, interpretation, and regulatory conflicts of the Wetland Policy roll out.
Keynotes from this workshop are: • Five new Environmental Protection Officers were hired. This could result in increased field audits for education and
pro-active compliance for operators.• The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) released a frequently asked questions (FAQ) on Alberta Wetland Policy
implementation, complete with regulatory process diagrams.• Avoidance plans are now required for any A-value wetland impacts; A-value wetlands are of high importance and
have an associated compensation of up to $155,200/hectare of wetland impacts.• AER and Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) are developing monitoring program guides to help standardize
application approval conditions.
On 1 July 2018, the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) will be adding Old Growth Management Areas (OGMAs) to Area-based Analysis (ABA) to help conserve biodiversity and old forest characteristics in the Dawson Creek Timber Supply Area (TSA). The intent of OGMAs is to recognize the importance of old growth forest characteristics and provide consideration to those legislated under the Environmental Protection Management Regulation (EPMR). Activities within the normal status OGMAs will proceed as routine while activities that are legislated under the EPMR will require mitigation and be subject to an enhanced review process.
Husky Energy Inc. (Husky) intends to construct two new pipelines to replace an oil pipeline that leaked more than 225,000 into the North Saskatchewan River in July 2016. Following the incident, Husky accepted full responsibility for the leak. Husky provided assurance that the new pipeline project will use improved design, material selection, management systems and incident reporting. Husky hopes to begin construction by fall 2018.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
SASKATCHEWAN
Old Growth Management Areas Added to Area-Based Analysis
Husky Energy Inc. Plans to Construct New Saskatchewan Oil Pipeline, Replace Pipeline that Leaked in 2016
If there are any questions, please contact our in-house wetland practitioner, Jenalee Mischkolz at 403-305-6061 or [email protected]