Increase in inactive oil and gas wells could cost Saskatchewan $4B in future cleanup:

[chuckChuck]

Yup it is kind of sad. I know it is not easy to compare Norway to Canada or Alberta. We have very different circumstances.

But I can't imagine Norway has a huge cleanup bill waiting for taxpayers. And if they do, they have managed to put away over a $trillion dollars in a sovereign wealth fund for 5.3 million people from their oil industry. They are real fiscal conservatives.

Norway came to look at Alberta's Heritage Fund as a model for theirs.

Did we blow it all? Did we forget that the oil mostly belongs to the taxpayers? Instead I think the profits were privatized and gone to the shareholders.

Yes we got lots of jobs, economic activity, and taxes and those have been beneficial. But did we a good job in managing a one time finite resource for the greater long term benefit of citizens and the sustainability of our economy? I don't think so when you look at what Norway has done.

Are we little like a one industry town that when the mine runs out or becomes uneconomic, the town dies?

[GDR]

Yup it is kind of sad. I know it is not easy to compare Norway to Canada or Alberta. We have very different circumstances.

But I can't imagine Norway has a huge cleanup bill waiting for taxpayers. And if they do, they have managed to put away over a $trillion dollars in a sovereign wealth fund for 5.3 million people from their oil industry. They are real fiscal conservatives.

Norway came to look at Alberta's Heritage Fund as a model for theirs.

Did we blow it all? Did we forget that the oil mostly belongs to the taxpayers? Instead I think the profits were privatized and gone to the shareholders.

Yes we got lots of jobs, economic activity, and taxes and those have been beneficial. But did we a good job in managing a one time finite resource for the greater long term benefit of citizens and the sustainability of our economy? I don't think so when you look at what Norway has done.

Are we little like a one industry town that when the mine runs out or becomes uneconomic, the town dies?

Mineral rights should have never been separated from property rights. Would have been better for everyone. We had an oil company come in 10yrs ago and want to drill in a very unfavourable location for me. I opposed it for my reasons, also had 4 other neighbors oppose it. Went to arbitration and long story the well got drilled, neighbors had their concerns mostly addressed but me as the landowner basically got stuck with it. The reasoning used throughout the arbitration was that the taxpayers had a right to the royalties and surface rights of the landowner are secondary. I asked the head landman if they would drill in his backyard in Calgary if the oil was there, but of course that is different!

[sumdumguy]

Not really abandoned just shut in but you drive around our area and you hardly see any pumpjacks moving these days, must be waiting for better prices but think there is something about the mineral rights and royalties that if you dont use them you lose them?

The same should go for rights that aren’t used. Companies tyed up land forever when they bought the rights for next to nothing and their caveat sits on the title forever, unexercised.

If the land owner grants access and allows a well on his property, maybe he should be responsble for the clean-up? Just wondering. Probably ruffled some feathers there.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Perhaps if all of the useful idiots on the left hadn't postponed or blocked every pipeline proposal, Western Canadian oil and gas would sell on par with World prices, Royalties could justifiably be on par with the rest of the world, Energy companies would still be profitable and in business here, And we wouldn't be having a discussion about abandoned or orphaned wells and who has to pay for it. Perhaps we should send the bill to those who opposed the pipelines, They can try to extract the funds from their financiers Who have profited handsomely from our incompetence to deal with these treasonous obstructionists.

[sumdumguy]

The “left” or “backwards” don’t realize what a big role oil revenue plays in the Canadian economy not to mention everything we do every day. Takes away their cars, their tractors, the thermostat on their wall, there airline tickets - then listen to them whine.

[checking]

GDR

Was your unwanted well ever the result of your accepting seismic money?
Your response, if forthcoming, will determine my sympathy level.

SDG.

11% of landowners have mineral rights. It's their choice to farm them out. Therefore, what you suggest, I find quite in agreement. Most mineral rights owners do not develop their mineral rights themselves, so pick the partner well (pun) if one wants to court you.

[GDR]

GDR

Was your unwanted well ever the result of your accepting seismic money?
Your response, if forthcoming, will determine my sympathy level.

I don't need sympathy at this point
Im over it and life goes on. Just find it backwards that the mineral and property rights are separate and that one can supersede the other.

As for seismic the answer would be yes and no. It did have a sesmic line accross it years ago when i was the renter ( bought the land and built a new yard just before the well came in), dont remember for sure but they would have paid the owner at the time and likely paid some crop damage or something to me. Interestingly enough I caught 2 plastic seismic caps with the drill this spring yo jog my memory on that.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

As I posted in an older thread, I still maintain that the bloated cost of reclaiming old "contaminated" sites is mostly unnecessary, and a bigger environmental catastrophe than the original contamination. It mostly consists of dilution of the contaminant over a larger area, or burying it in a landfill. But in the process, massive amounts of additional fossil fuels are burnt to accomplish this, which requires additional wells to be drilled ad infinitum.

[Horse]

If I member right king Ralph said we don't need royalties we will just tax those high paying jobs and get our money that way. How many of those high rollers bought farmland and really don't know how to farm without that big pay chequer. Some did well as they came from a farm background but others will perish, should we help them out also.

[oneoff]

The same should go for rights that aren’t used. Companies tyed up land forever when they bought the rights for next to nothing and their caveat sits on the title forever, unexercised.

If the land owner grants access and allows a well on his property, maybe he should be responsble for the clean-up? Just wondering. Probably ruffled some feathers there.

Always did have some respect for notsodumbguys comments. Also note that chuckie concedes that oil will be around for a long time.. and for his sake (as well as others who do know where our actual energy sources have come from; will come from until there are viable and better replacements and realize that there is nor need to repeat keep repeating those obvious facts).


But so far I only see the dumb guy pointing out that just maybe the surface owners keen to get their 3K per year and if they are "lucky" get their slice of money from the oil companies for their freehold royalties slice should be held a tiny bit responsible for the existence of necessary oil companies; and maybe a bit of their liabilities caused by some potentially absurd cleanup regulations promoted by even those who may owe their livelihoods to a vibrant oil industry..

Those comments directly pointed at every chuckie in sight.