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Directive 013: Suspension Requirements for Wells

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Release Date: December 06, 2018

Effective date: December 6, 2018
Replaces previous edition issued October 25, 2018.
Released with Bulletin 2018-33.

 

Purpose of this Directive

This directive sets out suspension, inspection, and reactivation requirements for wells, as required under section 3.020 of the Oil and Gas Conservation Rules.

Note: Well status (set through Petrinex) and licence status (set through the Digital Data Submission system) should align. For a list of valid combinations, refer to the well/licence status matrix linked below.
 

The table below sets out the designated information submission system to use when submitting information under Directive 013.

Item Designated Information Submission System
BGWP depth for a well DDS > AER > Reports > Base Groundwater Protection
Surface abandonments OneStop > Close > Abandonment >  Wells
Inactive well licence list DDS > AER > Reports > Licence > View/Download Inactive Well Licence List 
Well suspension submissions OneStop > Operate > Reporting > Well Suspension > Initial Suspension
Industry well inspection submissions  OneStop > Operate > Reporting > Well Suspension > Industry Inspections
Well reactivation submissions OneStop > Operate > Reporting > Well Suspension > Reactivation

As of February 18, 2018, all system issues related to submitting well suspension reports have been fixed and functionality has been fully restored in OneStop.  The bulk uploading function for well suspension reports, including initial suspension reports and ongoing inspection reports, has also been enabled in OneStop. Deadlines for submitting initial well suspension reports and initial and ongoing inspection reports have been extended until March 31, 2019. 

Any questions related to Directive 013, the Inactive Well Compliance Program, the Inactive Well Licence List, and suspension submissions on the AER Digital Data Submission (DDS) system can be sent to the welloperations inbox (@email). Please read Directive 013Bulletin 2014-19, and related FAQs and make sure that your questions are not already answered in one of these documents since they will be deemed lower priority due to the high volume of emails received on a daily basis.

Inactive Well Compliance Program 

The inactive well compliance program completed years three and four of a five-year program on July 31, 2019. The program will bring into compliance a backlog of inactive wells that did not meet requirements in Directive 013. The IWCP Year Three and Four Final Report summarizes the progress of the program in years three and four. The IWCP Year One Final Report and IWCP Year Two Final Report are also available.

Licensee-specific compliances for year one, year two, year three and the target quotas for year four are available (in spreadsheet form) in the IWCP Annual Target Quota and Progress Report.

Digital Data Submission (DDS) system reporting

Inactive Well Licence List [XLS] (updated daily)*
*The Inactive Well Licence List has been updated to include all inactive wells in the province comprising of wells that are excluded for Directive 013 suspension requirements as well. The update also includes a column that helps users identify Medium Risk Type 6 Wells (low risk wells inactive longer than 10 years).

Well / Licence Status Matrix [XLS] (updated April 2012)

Directive 013 and Inactive Well Compliance Program FAQs [PDF] (updated March 11, 2016)