Tens of thousands of non-productive oil and gas wells scar Alberta’s landscape and their numbers are growing as the province’s brutal recession drags on. The most recent count from the Alberta Energy Regulator shows there were 84,100 inactive wells in the province in September, which is up from 77,600 in March.
Meanwhile, the number of orphaned wells — wells for which there is no financially responsible company — has almost doubled during the same time period, rising to 1,285 from 698.
The provincial government is concerned taxpayer money may be needed to clean up after the energy industry if the number of idle wells continues to grow. Alberta Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said her government is developing a plan to tackle “this growing issue.”
Geoffrey Morgan, Financial Post – October 21, 2016.
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