Canadian Oil Driller Abruptly Shuts Down, Abandons 4,700 Wells

[cc]

by Tyler Durden Fri, 05/03/2019 - 19:45

Authored by Irina Slav via Oilprice.com,



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-03/canadian-oil-driller-abruptly-shuts-down-abandons-4700-wells">A junior Canadian gas E&P company has shut down abruptly, leaving as many as 4,700 wells behind, CBC reports, quoting the Alberta Energy Regulator, which said it had sent Trident Exploration Corp. an order to manage its wells, to which the company did not respond.



Trident closed two days ago and announced it would not be returning any money to shareholders or holders of unsecured bonds, adding it had well abandonment and reclamation liabilities of US$244.78 million (C$329 million) to deal with.



According to the Alberta Energy Regulator, these 4,700 wells add to more than 3,000 abandoned wells in Canada's oil heartland that are currently awaiting remediation. The regulator also said it had been working with the company to smooth its exit from the industry and had ordered it to decommission the wells or transfer them to another company. Trident failed to comply with the order, the AER said.



"Trident does not have the funds to operate its infrastructure or enter into creditor protection. As a result, they have decided to walk away, leaving more than 4,400 licensed sites, many of them active, without an operator," the watchdog told CBC.





Data from the Alberta Energy Regulator says there are some 170,000 abandoned wells in the province, most of these sealed and taken out of service or reclaimed. The number represents more than a third of the total well count in Alberta, with the watchdog noting in its overview on the topic that even their abandonment, the wells remain the responsibility of the company that owns them.



Two years ago, think tank C. D. Howe warned Alberta was facing a well cleanup and reclamation bill of US$5.95 billion (C$8 billion) and needed to change the way it made companies take financial charge of the abandonment and reclamation of their wells. Since then, this figure has grown.



Also https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Alberta-Prepares-Its-Oil-Weapon.html">https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Gene ... eapon.html">https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Alberta-Prepares-Its-Oil-Weapon.html





[ Hoping for comments from those who know the industry ]

[Bricktop]

Dumb.



Just plain dumb.

[Anonymous]

Trudeau's fault. And the former premier of Alberta.

[Anonymous]

by Tyler Durden Fri, 05/03/2019 - 19:45

Authored by Irina Slav via Oilprice.com,



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-03/canadian-oil-driller-abruptly-shuts-down-abandons-4700-wells">A junior Canadian gas E&P company has shut down abruptly, leaving as many as 4,700 wells behind, CBC reports, quoting the Alberta Energy Regulator, which said it had sent Trident Exploration Corp. an order to manage its wells, to which the company did not respond.



Trident closed two days ago and announced it would not be returning any money to shareholders or holders of unsecured bonds, adding it had well abandonment and reclamation liabilities of US$244.78 million (C$329 million) to deal with.



According to the Alberta Energy Regulator, these 4,700 wells add to more than 3,000 abandoned wells in Canada's oil heartland that are currently awaiting remediation. The regulator also said it had been working with the company to smooth its exit from the industry and had ordered it to decommission the wells or transfer them to another company. Trident failed to comply with the order, the AER said.



"Trident does not have the funds to operate its infrastructure or enter into creditor protection. As a result, they have decided to walk away, leaving more than 4,400 licensed sites, many of them active, without an operator," the watchdog told CBC.





Data from the Alberta Energy Regulator says there are some 170,000 abandoned wells in the province, most of these sealed and taken out of service or reclaimed. The number represents more than a third of the total well count in Alberta, with the watchdog noting in its overview on the topic that even their abandonment, the wells remain the responsibility of the company that owns them.



Two years ago, think tank C. D. Howe warned Alberta was facing a well cleanup and reclamation bill of US$5.95 billion (C$8 billion) and needed to change the way it made companies take financial charge of the abandonment and reclamation of their wells. Since then, this figure has grown.



Also https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Alberta-Prepares-Its-Oil-Weapon.html">https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Gene ... eapon.html">https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Alberta-Prepares-Its-Oil-Weapon.html





[ Hoping for comments from those who know the industry ]

My husband works for a specialized oilfield service company..



They have nothing to do with maintaining or taking wells out of service though..



But, we here a lot about companies walking away from abandoned wells.

[Anonymous]

I am qualified as a completions consultant as well as a drilling consultant. I have overseen the abandonment of hundreds and hundreds. I have opened up wells too that had been previously plugged.



This abandoned well things is nothing new. New technology means that wells that had been previously abandoned have been brought back online and redrilled using advanced extraction technology. But, that is the US. The situation here is different. Nobody in the industry believes they have a partner in Justine. Nobody wants to invest in old wells when his regime has done everything, but declare war on those of us who bust our backs in oil and gas.

[Anonymous]

I am qualified as a completions consultant as well as a drilling consultant. I have overseen the abandonment of hundreds and hundreds. I have opened up wells too that had been previously plugged.



This abandoned well things is nothing new. New technology means that wells that had been previously abandoned have been brought back online and redrilled using advanced extraction technology. But, that is the US. The situation here is different. Nobody in the industry believes they have a partner in Justine. Nobody wants to invest in old wells when his regime has done everything, but declare war on those of us who bust our backs in oil and gas.

The word abandoned is a misnomer.

[Anonymous]

Dumb.



Just plain dumb.

The green NGO's and their political arms make it seem so harmful to the environment. A well expires, they close it in.  I didn't know they can bring them back into production. Thete's no incentive to do that in Canada right now. Not with the current regime.

[Bricktop]

But hasn't the planet cooled substantially since the Climate Warrior was elected?

[Anonymous]

But hasn't the planet cooled substantially since the Climate Warrior was elected?

 

[Anonymous]

Dumb.



Just plain dumb.

The green NGO's and their political arms make it seem so harmful to the environment. A well expires, they close it in.  I didn't know they can bring them back into production. Thete's no incentive to do that in Canada right now. Not with the current regime.

Abandoned wells return to farm land. And if we had good government in Canada they would be brought online again with newer extraction technology.

[Anonymous]

This thread is educational for me, and reinforces what little I do know about US practice in the midwest and in West VA.





EDIT:  ...well, except for Bricktop's "contributions."    ac_biggrin

[Anonymous]

This thread is educational for me, and reinforces what little I do know about US practice in the midwest and in West VA.





EDIT:  ...well, except for Bricktop's "contributions."    ac_biggrin

What is happening here is not happening in the US. We have a federal and several provincial governments shilling for progtard billionaires who want to sabotage Canadian oil and gas sector. Small producers are not walking away from their investments in the US. In fact, Canadian investment dollars are going there. You can thank your president.