Regulation · Abandonment
Area Based Closure
An AER program from 2019 to 2021 in which licensees met closure spend targets and planned closure work by area, for large scale, efficient closure of inactive wells.
What it does
It was part of the transition to Alberta's Liability Management Framework. Today every licensee with inactive wells and facilities has a mandatory annual closure spend target, and the area based approach is still recommended through the ABC mapping tool.
Basics
| Period | 2019 to 2021 |
| Now | Mandatory annual closure spend target per licensee |
| Target based on | Share of industry inactive liability and financial health |
| Regulator | Alberta Energy Regulator |
Common failures
- Closure spend below the licensee target
Troubleshooting
- Symptom
- Licensee reports spend below its target
- Likely cause
- Closure work not executed
- What to check
- Expect AER compliance action; plan closure by area to spend efficiently