In total the oil and gas sector, aided by a federal government grant, spent more than C$1.2 billion ($888.17 million) on cleaning up and closing inactive wells in 2022, the Alberta Energy Regulator's (AER) first performance report on managing clean-up liabilities showed.
Companies spent C$696 million directly on closing wells. The remainder came from the industry-funded Orphan Well Association and Alberta's Site Rehabilitation Program, which is funded by the federal government.
Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and sixth-largest gas producer, and its western provinces are dotted with hundreds of thousands of active and inactive wells. Some of those wells are orphans, meaning the companies that owned them have gone bankrupt or ceased to exist.
The AER introduced a mandatory closure spending quota in 2022, requiring industry to spend at least C$422 million collectively on closure and cleanup work.
Provincial Energy Minister Brian Jean said the report showed Alberta was making progress.
"The regulator's first performance report shows how Alberta's promise to take bold and strong action under the liability management framework to clean up inactive oil and gas sites is making a big difference," Jean said in a statement.
