B.C. to spend millions cleaning inactive wells

VICTORIA — British Columbia has announced details on how it plans to spend $120 million in federal funds earmarked for cleaning up inactive oil and gas well sites across the province.

Premier John Horgan says restoring more than 2,000 inactive oil and gas wells would support upwards of 1,200 jobs in B.C.

The federal government announced $120 million for cleaning orphan wells in B.C. in mid-April, money the province says it intends to spend on three new programs once a final agreement is reached with Ottawa.

B.C. says up to $100 million would be used to reclaim wells that have been inactive for five consecutive years and aren’t likely to come back into service. That would provide oil and gas companies based in B.C. with up to $100,000, or up to half the total costs of site clean up.

The province says a second program managed by the BC Oil and Gas Commission would provide $15 million to reclaim oil and gas sites operated by companies that are insolvent, cannot be located or no longer exist. That’s on top of $27 million already planned to clean up those wells through the end of next year.

Finally, B.C. says a legacy sites reclamation program would provide $5 million to address environmental and cultural impacts of wells.

The province says more than 350 of about 25,000 oil and gas well sites in B.C. are considered orphan and 7,685 are dormant.

Elizabeth Aquin, president and CEO of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada, says the funding will provide much-needed jobs for the oil and gas sector while benefiting the environment.