Timeline
Our estimated processing time for this application is 30 business days.
Purpose of the Application
Companies may require short-term gas injection during a plant turnaround or another defined outage. The annual volume of gas for injection is small, and the injection does not exceed 30 combined days.
In these circumstances, the company must apply for a variation of program for the short-term gas injection under section 3.080(1) of the Oil and Gas Conservation Rules.
Process Checklist
Submit an Application
Submit a Gas Injection – ST application through the Digital Data Submission (DDS) system. Each application will be registered and assigned a reference number. The application should include a statement indicating it is an application under section 3.080(1) of the Oil and Gas Conservation Rules for a variation of program.
By submitting an application, the company accepts that the submitted information is not confidential, as per Section 49 of the AER Rules of Practice.
Review Process
- We share all applications on our Public Notice of Application (PNoA) page to encourage public participation in the approval process.
- Anyone who believes they may be directly and adversely affected by an application can file a statement of concern (SOC). If we receive an SOC, it may take us longer to process the application.
- We will assign the application to a subject matter expert for initial review. We review and assess the following information, and incomplete applications will be returned to the applicant
- The applicant has identified the target formation for the short-term gas injection. The target formation must be an AER-defined pool. There are no subsurface requirements for notification to other parties because the annual volume of gas to be injected will be for small volumes and a limited duration.
- The applicant has the right to inject gas into the target formation.
- The applicant has identified if the injected fluid contains H2S (sour gas). If so, an up-to-date, AER-approved emergency response plan as per Directive 071 must be in place, and Directive 051 approval is required before the start of injection.
- wThe applied-for maximum wellhead injection pressure (MWHIP) is provided, and a justification if the MWHIP exceeds the values in Directive 065, appendix O, table 1.
- The applied-for maximum daily gas injection rate is provided.
- The applicant must specify the cumulative days required on an annual basis and indicate the total number of years required.
- The applicant must specify the cumulative gas volume on an annual basis.
- We may request additional information through a supplemental information request to complete the technical review.
- We will decide to approve, close, or deny the application. If we close it, the applicant may reapply without prejudice. If the application is denied, the applicant can file an appeal through our appeal process.
- If we approve it, we will provide the applicant with a link to the letter with our decision, which is accessible through the Integrated Application Registry. We will also share our decision on our Publication of Decision page.
If a variation is approved, the applicant must report the volumes of gas injected via Petrinex.