old wells

The regulator says the move would reward companies that remediate their old sites promptly, cutting the amount of environmental red ink on their books and making it easier for them to sell or buy old wells.

Alberta's United Conservative Party government is facing growing criticism for a plan to give oil companies a royalty credit for cleaning up their old wells.

Critics fear Alberta's new United Conservative premier is preparing to bring in a program that would use billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded royalty breaks to subsidize energy companies to fulfil their legal duty and clean up old wells.