Alberta Landowners Sue Regulator Over Orphan Well Funding

Amanda Kamps bought her property in central Alberta seven years ago, but it came with a surprise. About two dozen steel pilings jut out of the ground - remnants of an orphan oil and gas site.

When the company responsible for the site went under three months later, the Alberta Energy Regulator designated it an orphan. The Orphan Well Association is then responsible for decommissioning and reclaiming the site, funded almost entirely by industry through an annual levy set by the regulator.

Kamps has been waiting years to see her property fully cleaned up. Her experience comes as a group of landowners and organizations takes the Alberta Energy Regulator to court over how that system is funded.

The Orphan Well Association currently has more than 7,300 wells in its inventory. Its 2025-26 annual report estimates the cost of addressing its entire orphan inventory at about $1.66 billion. The 2026-27 levy is $154.56 million, up from $144.45 million the previous year.

The applicants argue that increase has not kept pace with the growing number of orphan sites and that taxpayers could ultimately be left covering more of the cost of dealing with these wells.