Cassels lawyers Jeremy Barretto, Christopher W. McLelland, Tamara Prince, and Alyshea Surani have been published in the Alberta Law Review.
“Leading the Way? Liability Management for the Alberta Oil and Gas Industry” was co-authored with Jeff Davidson, legal counsel at Canadian Natural Resources Limited, and is part of Vol. 60, No. 2: Energy Law Edition.
The article examines Alberta’s oil and gas liability management system, with a particular focus on the new regime established in 2021 by the Alberta Energy Regulator’s Directive 088. The article begins by examining liability management in Alberta prior to Directive 088, up to and including the Redwater decisions of the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. It then provides a brief overview of Directive 088’s main provisions and reviews its initial impacts on industry and the Orphan Fund Levy. Finally, it compares Alberta’s liability management system to that of its world-class peers and a suggested alternative model, and considers whether Alberta is leading the way in oil and gas liability management.
The Alberta Law Review (ALR) is a student-run publication whose primary purpose is to enhance discourse on Canadian legal issues. Founded in 1955, the ALR is published by the Alberta Law Review Society, an organization consisting of law students at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. Built upon the hard work of student editors at both law faculties, the ALR is published every quarter and has roughly 1,000 pages per volume.
Natalie Thompson and Neil Burnside also contributed to the preparation of this paper, which was presented at the Jasper Canadian Energy Law Conference.