Report authors say regulator rulings consistently favour industry  ( CHAT NEWS TODAY file)

By The Canadian Press

"Rules give regulator far too much discretion"

Academics call for public review of Alberta Energy Regulator

Oct 11, 2023 | 6:50 AM

CALGARY – Academics at the University of Calgary are calling for a public review of the Alberta Energy Regulator, describing it as secretive and too close to industry.

In a peer-reviewed report issued by the university’s School For Public Policy, three authors say the province’s large and growing environmental liability from its oil and gas industry is the result of the regulator of consistently favouring industry.

They say Alberta’s rules give the regulator far too much discretion.

They add that the regulator has, over the years, restricted the kind of information Albertans need to judge the industry’s environmental performance.

A spokesperson for the regulator was not immediately available for comment.

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Alberta now has about 230-thousand drilled wells that need to be abandoned and reclaimed, and another 90-thousand that have been abandoned but not reclaimed.

That liability is estimated to be at least 60-billion dollars.

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(The Canadian Press)