Alberta Energy may promote the conversion of disused oil and gas wells into geothermal systems as a partial solution to the province’s abandoned well crisis. “Using abandoned wells for geothermal is a complex issue that requires further input and consultation from a broad range of stakeholders,” says Alberta energy minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd.
“I have asked government staff to consider this option as we move forward with our climate plan and also in our considerations of the entire liability management system.” A government official says the province aims to have policies in place before April, which may include tax and carbon credits. Mitchell Pomphrey, CEO of Pomphrey Industries, who is a key figure in Canada’s first abandoned oil well-to-geothermal heating system conversion, has navigated his way through the byzantine overlapping regulations of Alberta Energy and Alberta Energy Regulator.
“In Alberta, the regulatory pathway for converting a hydrocarbon well is complex as geothermal simply doesn’t exist as a regulated resource,” he says.
NICK WILSON – Alberta Oil Magazine, October 5, 2016.
Want More Investigative Content?
