Phase 1 Funding Allocation and Eligibility
Determination of Eligible Licensee Funding Allocation
Eligible licensees will receive a funding allocation in consideration of the eligible licensee's total deemed inactive infrastructure liability as a percentage of the total deemed inactive infrastructure liability of all eligible licensees. This ratio will be applied to the $100 million Phase 1 funding tranche to arrive at a licensee's eligible funding allocation.
Each eligible licensee will receive a minimum funding allocation of $50,000 to support reclamation and abandonment activities. If deemed inactive liability of the eligible licensee is less than $50,000, the eligible licensee will receive a funding allocation equal to the size of their deemed inactive liability.
Licensee Eligibility Criteria
In Phase 1 of the ASCP, eligible licensees are licensees who were in good standing in relation to debts owing to the Crown as of March 1, 2020. For the purposes of eligibility under ASCP, Crown debts include:
- Amounts owing for the Oil and Gas Administrative Levy;
- Amounts owing for the Orphan Well Levy;
- Amounts owing for Crown oil and gas royalties;
- Amounts owing for Crown mineral disposition rentals; and
- Amounts owing for Crown surface lease rentals.
The Ministry of Energy and Resources will determine licensee eligibility and funding allocations. Eligible licensees were notified of their funding allocation via their IRIS service administrator email address on June 1, 2020.
Well and Facility Site Eligibility
Any wells, facilities and flowlines nominated into the program (see: How to Apply) must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- The well, facility or flowlines located in a municipality in which the eligible licensee owes municipal taxes will not be eligible; and
- If located on private lands, the licensee must be current on surface lease payments to the landowner with respect to the specific well, facility or flowlines.
When nominating wells, facilities and flowlines into the program, the eligible licensee will be required to submit two declarations:
- A declaration stating that the licensee does not have any outstanding municipal taxes owing with respect to the nominated wells, facilities and flowlines; and
- A declaration stating that the licensee is current on surface lease payments to private landowners with respect to the nominated wells, facilities and flowlines.
Submitting a false declaration may result in collection actions by the Crown and could render a licensee ineligible for future funding under the ASCP.
Eligible Activities
Eligible activities for Phase I will include:
- Abandonment of oil and gas wells, facilities and associated flowlines;
- Environmental site assessments (Phase 1 and Phase 2);
- Site remediation activities; and
- Site reclamation activities.
In Phase I, preference will be given to abandonment and reclamation activities that can be approved routinely to support the rapid roll-out of funding to the service sector. However, deploying an area-based closure model is still a priority under this program and exceptions will be considered.
Any work that commenced or was completed prior to the program launch date and/or has not been included in a work package issued by the SRC will not be eligible under the program. However, if the abandonment was completed prior to that date, the remaining remediation and reclamation work would be eligible under the program. The same principle will apply to the stages of remediation and reclamation for well and facility sites.
Phase 2 Funding Allocation and Eligibility
Phase 2 of the ASCP allocated an additional $200 million to licensees in December of 2020. In determining Phase 2 allocations for licensees, the program utilized the same eligibility criteria and the same allocation formula that was used in Phase 1 (see above).
Similarly, Phase 2 allocations will be subject to the same eligible activities and expenses requirements as Phase 1. The process to nominate infrastructure will remain the same. The list of eligible service companies for the program will carry over into Phase 2. Licensees were notified of their Phase 2 allocations via IRIS the week of December 14, 2020.
With respect to amounts owing to the Crown, licensee eligibility requirements remain the same for Phase 2 as they were in Phase 1. However, owing to a later than usual issuance of invoices related to the 2020-21 Orphan Fund and the 2020-21 Administrative Levy (resulting from industry relief measures), licensees will have until January 22, 2021, to pay any outstanding amounts owing in relation to those levies. Should a licensee still owe amounts on either of these two levies after January 22, 2021, their ASCP allocation will be suspended pending full payment of any amounts owing.
Note that, like Phase 1 of the program, a licensee must also be current and in good standing in relation to amounts owing for Crown oil and gas royalties, Crown mineral disposition rentals and Crown surface lease rentals as of December 1, 2020.
Phase 3 Funding Allocation and Eligibility
Phase 3 of the ASCP allocated an additional $55 million to licensees in November of 2021. In determining Phase 3 allocations for licensees, the program utilized the same eligibility criteria and the same allocation formula that was used in Phase 1 and Phase 2 (see above).
Similarly, Phase 3 allocations will be subject to the same eligible activities and expenses requirements as Phase 1 and Phase 2. The process to nominate infrastructure will remain the same. The list of eligible service companies for the program will carry over into Phase 3. Licensees were notified of their Phase 3 allocations via IRIS the week of November 22, 2021.
With respect to amounts owing to the Crown, licensee eligibility requirements remain the same for Phase 3 as they were in Phase 1 and Phase 2. However, licensees who are not eligible by November 12, 2021, will not be able to access Phase 3 funds or any unused recaptured program funds at any point going forward.
View the current list of eligible licensees and their ASCP funding allocations. Please note, this list may be subject to changes, which will be tracked and managed by the SRC for program administration purposes. This is intended to be for information only and will not be updated on a regular basis going forward.