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"There are no rules," said Francois.
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The price tag to clean up orphan oil and gas wells in Alberta increased by nearly 50 per cent since last year, bringing the estimated total to $1.66 billion, according to the latest annual report from the Orphan Well Association.
The report, released last month, attributes the increase to an “influx” of orphan wells from a company called Long Run Exploration Ltd. The price tag to clean up the thousands of orphan sites left behind by the company is estimated by the association to be $500 million.
“A surge in inventory is not new for the [Orphan Well Association]. … These struggling companies are on our radar for a long time,” the annual report reads.
“We know the assets will eventually come our way, and plan in advance with the [Alberta Energy Regulator] to ensure we are ready to tackle the challenge.”
Alberta’s Orphan Well Association is a not-for-profit organization launched in 2002 that acts as a backstop when delinquent oil and gas companies leave behind inactive wells that need to be cleaned up. It was designed to be funded by industry in the form of an annual levy, but has received government grants in the past and gets an annual interest-free loan from taxpayers.
In response to questions from The Narwhal, Lars De Pauw, the president of the Orphan Well Association, said by email, “The pace of closure will depend on future orphan levies which have not yet been determined.”
All companies pay into an orphan well fund, to make a pool of money available for when companies go bankrupt, or otherwise walk away from their liabilities. Last year, the orphan well levy added up to $144.45 million. This year, after a seven per cent increase set by the Alberta Energy Regulator, it increased to $154.6 million.
Last year, the association safely sealed 721 wells, according to the annual report, and received reclamation certificates for another 850. The report says this is the equivalent of “over 15 square kilometres of land returned to Albertans, an area equivalent to 2,100 [Canadian Football League] football fields (including end zones!).”
Graph: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal. Source: Orphan Well Association
That’s not enough to make up for the decades-long backlog of orphan wells, according to public interest lawyer Drew Yewchuk.
“The bottom line is that Alberta’s orphan problem continues to grow,” Yewchuk wrote in a University of Calgary Public Interest Law Clinic blog post about the latest annual report. “All signs point to an orphan well problem that will become too big to solve so that a large share of the costs will be socialized, with taxpayers left to pay the bill for closure work.”
Yewchuk cautions the amount taxpayers could be on the hook remains to be seen. “This is not an all or nothing question of whether costs are passed to the public. Both the federal and provincial governments have already paid some costs for the closure of oil sites, but the amounts are small compared to the total cost,” he told The Narwhal by email. “The thing to watch is how much of the cost gets passed to the public.”
Alberta’s orphan well problem grows year after year
According to the Government of Alberta, there are an estimated 466,000 oil and gas wells in the province. More than half of those are no longer producing, some of which have been properly plugged, while others are in a state of temporary suspension. And some are orphans: a well that no longer has a legal or financial owner.
The most common cause is an insolvent or bankrupt oil and gas company that has left behind a long list of wells that were never properly decommissioned or cleaned up. Those wells, pipelines or other related facilities then become “orphans.”
But they still need to be properly plugged and reclaimed, according to provincial rules. That falls to the Orphan Well Association.
According to the Government of Alberta, there are an estimated 466,000 oil and gas wells in the province. More than half of those are no longer producing. Photo: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal
The association’s inventory currently lists 7,382 wells that need to be decommissioned — as in, safely sealed — and 9,148 sites that need to be reclaimed, which means restored to what’s known as “equivalent land capability” to get back to the ecological, agricultural or other pre-drilling state of the land.
These numbers have increased substantially. As of the end of March, the Orphan Well Association reported its inventory included 4,200 orphan wells that needed to be safely sealed and more than 8,000 sites that needed to be reclaimed.
For comparison, in 2013, the Orphan Well Association had just 387 orphans in its inventory of sites that needed to be reclaimed.
The total price tag to clean up wells the association is responsible for has also increased. According to Yewchuk’s analysis, “the total amount owed has increased for five of the last six years and has more than doubled from 2021 to July 2026.”
Thousand of wells were orphaned in April
The thousands of new wells from Long Run Exploration Ltd. that landed on the Orphan Well Association’s books this spring ended up as orphans after a 2024 deal with a Chinese company fell through. That deal would have seen all of Long Run’s shares purchased for $22 million.
In April, the Alberta Energy Regulator announced the company’s wells were officially orphans. That meant 4,031 wells, 383 facilities and 2,121 pipeline segments previously owned by Long Run Exploration Ltd. were transferred to the Orphan Well Association.
The association reported updated numbers after verifying the status of each site: 2,980 wells and associated facilities and pipelines need to be decommissioned and 938 sites have already been sealed.
The association’s annual report is optimistic the sites do not pose any extraordinary risks.
“Given the nature of the Long Run assets, we do not foresee any of the sites posing a high risk to public safety or the environment,” it said in its annual report.
De Pauw, the president of the Orphan Well Association, said by email, “We have incorporated the Long Run wells into our overall program. We don’t see them any differently as other orphan assets and will continue to prioritize sites based on risk and those on private land while ensuring efficient operations. ”
Cleaning up one orphan well involved demolishing homes
According to the association, the average cost to safely seal each well is $28,800 and the average cost to reclaim the site is $27,000, though actual costs can vary widely depending on the complexity of the cleanup.
In its annual report, the association cites an example in Bonnyville, Alta., where a 1950s-era orphan well was found to be leaking methane into a home. Two houses and a duplex were purchased and demolished, and the well was safely sealed — a complicated and expensive endeavour. “The homeowners were disappointed, of course,” Cliff Pybus, land and stakeholder coordinator at the Orphan Well Association, said in the annual report. “But also relieved that the [association] was taking charge and fixing the situation.”
In theory, the levies collected from industry should be enough money to fund orphan well cleanup in the province. But as clean-up bills have ballooned, the auditor general and other critics have warned this may not be the reality.
“In recent years, levy revenues have not been enough to keep pace with the increasing number of orphan sites being transferred to the [Orphan Well Association],” the auditor general wrote in 2023. Back then, the total price tag of cleaning up orphan wells was a little more than half what it is today.
The leader of a major Hindu nationalist network is planning a North American public relations tour amid scrutiny of right-wing religious persecution in India
The federal government’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivers on the wishlist of the oil and gas lobby and represents the final nail in the coffin for Canada’s climate policy;
The MOU was signed in violation of the government’s duty to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples, the Constitution Act of 1982, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
This MOU fast-tracks another environmentally destructive oil pipeline and threatens the health and wellbeing of folks across Canada who are already experiencing the consequences of the fossil fuel driven climate emergency;
Each summer, we’ve witnessed increasingly devastating wildfire seasons generating more and more climate refugees, particularly from Indigenous communities;
Climate-related hospitalizations are straining public health facilities, while climate anxiety is rising due to our government’s failure to act urgently to save our planet;
With this MOU, the government is choosing to roll back key environmental regulations and to subsidize the same Big Oil billionaires profiting off the climate emergency; and
The government should make a deal that serves the people, not the interests of fossil fuel billionaires.
We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to stop fast-tracking environmentally catastrophic fossil fuel projects, protect the health and wellbeing of all those impacted by climate change, and invest in a worker, community and Indigenous-led green energy transition that benefits everyone in Canada.
Open for signature
June 16, 2026, at 2:22 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
September 14, 2026, at 2:22 p.m. (EDT)
Canada and Cuba have maintained unbroken diplomatic and cultural ties for over eighty years, with Canadian tourists accounting for over one third of the island's international visitors each year;
The United States of America has maintained a unilateral economic blockade of Cuba since 1960, condemned by international observers and legal experts as a form of collective punishment; and
For thirty-three consecutive years, Canada has voted in support of the annual resolution of the United Nations General Assembly calling for an end to the United States embargo against Cuba.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
Deepen and defend economic and cultural exchanges between Canada and Cuba in the face of United States aggression;
Enforce the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act, to protect Canadian corporations who do business in Cuba against United States sanctions;
Lift the Government of Canada’s advisory against non-essential travel to Cuba and expand opportunities for tourism and trade; and
Reaffirm Canada’s historic opposition to the United States embargo against Cuba at the United Nations and support the annual resolution on the Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo.
Open for signature
August 12, 2026, at 2:22 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
October 11, 2026, at 2:22 p.m. (EDT)
The Government of Canada is legally obligated under the 2021 Safe Drinking Water for First Nations class action settlement agreement to introduce legislation that upholds First Nations’ equal right to clean, safe drinking water;
The Liberal government’s Bill C-37, the First Nations Clean Water Act, falls significantly short of this legal obligation, failing to recognize the human right of all First Nations individuals to clean drinking water;
Bill C-37 limits First Nations’ jurisdiction and authority over water to RESERVE LANDS ONLY, excluding lands over which Aboriginal title is claimed by a First Nation, or has been confirmed by a court;
The Liberals have excluded Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from Bill C-37 to bypass First Nations’ rights in Modern Treaties and in traditional lands and territories; and
Just like in Bill C-5, Bill C-37 is part of a broader trend of the Carney Liberal government repeatedly violating Indigenous Constitutional and Treaty rights and ignoring their duty to consult and obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.
We, the undersigned, residents of Canada and First Nations, call upon the Government of Canada to amend Bill C-37 to recognize the human right of all First Nations individuals to clean drinking water, to be compliant with ALL articles of UNDRIP, and to commit sufficient funding to ensure the right to clean water is upheld in practice.
Open for signature
August 10, 2026, at 3:07 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
December 8, 2026, at 3:07 p.m. (EDT)
Despite research linking pesticide exposure to cancer, reproductive and neurological issues, the Government of Canada passed Bill C-30, amending the Pest Control Products Act, allowing Cabinet to override Health Canada scientific decisions for economic reasons. Thus, removing independent oversight and permitting reauthorization of harmful pesticides for up to six years; and,
Canada remains negligent regarding severe pesticide impacts:
Neonicotinoids (imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam) — Canada’s most used insecticides — are found in soils, waterways, and food at harmful levels to pollinators, wildlife and human health. A 2018 phaseout proposal was reversed after alleged industry interference. The EU banned outdoor use and restricts imports containing residues, threatening Canadian exports;
Atrazine, banned in the EU and classified a probable carcinogen by WHO in 2025, is detected in Quebec rivers;
2,4-D is still used despite cancer and endocrine disruption links;
Metolachlor contaminates Quebec waterways with no federal restriction;
Chlorpyrifos residues persist in imports despite its 2023 phaseout; and
Neonicotinoid use devastates tick predators (opossums, beetles, insectivorous birds), accelerating spread of disease-carrying ticks.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
Repeal Bill C-30, Division 8 of the Pest Control Products Act;
Ban all outdoor agricultural and ornamental neonicotinoid use;
Ban atrazine immediately;
Ban or restrict 2,4-D;
Impose EU-comparable residue limits on metolachlor and chlorpyrifos;
Protect natural tick predators by prohibiting neonicotinoids near wildlife habitat;
Create a national public pesticide database; and
Establish an independent pesticide evaluation body free from industry funding.
Open for signature
July 30, 2026, at 9:43 a.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
November 27, 2026, at 9:43 a.m. (EDT)
Despite research linking pesticide exposure to cancer, reproductive and neurological issues, the Government of Canada passed Bill C-30, amending the Pest Control Products Act, allowing Cabinet to override Health Canada scientific decisions for economic reasons. Thus, removing independent oversight and permitting reauthorization of harmful pesticides for up to six years; and,
Canada remains negligent regarding severe pesticide impacts:
Neonicotinoids (imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam) — Canada’s most used insecticides — are found in soils, waterways, and food at harmful levels to pollinators, wildlife and human health. A 2018 phaseout proposal was reversed after alleged industry interference. The EU banned outdoor use and restricts imports containing residues, threatening Canadian exports;
Atrazine, banned in the EU and classified a probable carcinogen by WHO in 2025, is detected in Quebec rivers;
2,4-D is still used despite cancer and endocrine disruption links;
Metolachlor contaminates Quebec waterways with no federal restriction;
Chlorpyrifos residues persist in imports despite its 2023 phaseout; and
Neonicotinoid use devastates tick predators (opossums, beetles, insectivorous birds), accelerating spread of disease-carrying ticks.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
Repeal Bill C-30, Division 8 of the Pest Control Products Act;
Ban all outdoor agricultural and ornamental neonicotinoid use;
Ban atrazine immediately;
Ban or restrict 2,4-D;
Impose EU-comparable residue limits on metolachlor and chlorpyrifos;
Protect natural tick predators by prohibiting neonicotinoids near wildlife habitat;
Create a national public pesticide database; and
Establish an independent pesticide evaluation body free from industry funding.
Open for signature
July 30, 2026, at 9:43 a.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
November 27, 2026, at 9:43 a.m. (EDT)
UNICEF on May 12, 2026, described as “intolerable” the price being paid by West Bank/East Jerusalem children for escalating Israeli militarised operations and settler attacks, noting: the number of Palestinian children killed (on average at least one every week from January 2025 to May 2026), the number of Palestinian West Bank children held in military detention for alleged security offences is the highest in 8 years (more than half – 180 – under administrative detention without procedural safeguards), that West Bank/East Jerusalem children are routinely cut off from schools, hospitals and other essential services;
Israel is blocking agencies that work to protect Palestinian children, including by designating Defense for Children International – Palestine terrorists on October 19, 2021, banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem on October 28, 2024, and preventing the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting Palestinian security detainees in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023; and
The 2024 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion stated Israel’s continued occupation is illegal.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to protect the lives, dignity and human rights of Palestinian children by:
Banning all arms trade, direct or indirect, with Israel;
Suspending the Canada-Israel Free Trade agreement;
Sanctioning each Israeli cabinet member, Knesset member or government official who promotes violence against Palestinians or the seizure of their land; and
Prohibiting any Canadian resident or corporation from bidding on contracts for works wholly or partly within Israeli settlements in the West Bank/East Jerusalem.
UNICEF on May 12, 2026, described as “intolerable” the price being paid by West Bank/East Jerusalem children for escalating Israeli militarised operations and settler attacks, noting: the number of Palestinian children killed (on average at least one every week from January 2025 to May 2026), the number of Palestinian West Bank children held in military detention for alleged security offences is the highest in 8 years (more than half – 180 – under administrative detention without procedural safeguards), that West Bank/East Jerusalem children are routinely cut off from schools, hospitals and other essential services;
Israel is blocking agencies that work to protect Palestinian children, including by designating Defense for Children International – Palestine terrorists on October 19, 2021, banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem on October 28, 2024, and preventing the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting Palestinian security detainees in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023; and
The 2024 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion stated Israel’s continued occupation is illegal.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to protect the lives, dignity and human rights of Palestinian children by:
Banning all arms trade, direct or indirect, with Israel;
Suspending the Canada-Israel Free Trade agreement;
Sanctioning each Israeli cabinet member, Knesset member or government official who promotes violence against Palestinians or the seizure of their land; and
Prohibiting any Canadian resident or corporation from bidding on contracts for works wholly or partly within Israeli settlements in the West Bank/East Jerusalem.
