Supreme Court opens door to AER appeal of Redwater decision
Alberta - November 08, 2017
We are looking forward to presenting our arguments and are optimistic we may convince the Supreme Court to reverse the lower courts’ decisions.
Jim Ellis, AER president and CEO
Picture oil and gas companies walking away from thousands of wells, receivers of insolvent companies selling off the good assets and casting aside the bad ones, and Albertans being on the hook to clean up the mess.
This has been a very real scenario following a 2016 Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta ruling that would allow receivers and trustees of insolvent oil and gas companies to disclaim unprofitable assets, thereby letting owners of industrial facilities walk away from their environmental responsibilities.
However, today the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the expedited appeal of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and Orphan Well Association on the Redwater ruling.
AER President and CEO Jim Ellis lauded today’s ruling, saying “we are looking forward to presenting our arguments and are optimistic we may convince the Supreme Court to reverse the lower courts’ decisions.”
In the Media
Bankrupt oil companies dump $100 million in clean up costs on Orphan Well Association in under two years
The Alberta government is concerned more companies will strip off bad assets, handing the bill to the OWA, and potentially, onto taxpayers
November, 9 2017 business.financialpost.com
Appeal allowed: Supreme Court to decide how abandoned oil wells to be handled
November 9, 2017 nationalpost.com
Legal battle over abandoned oil wells bound for Supreme Court
The Redwater ruling gives creditors priority over environmental cleanup
November 9, 2017 www.cbc.ca
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