Application to Transfer Well, Facility, Pipeline and Flowline Licences

Under The Oil and Gas Conservation Act, authorization is required by the Minister of Energy and Resources to transfer a well or facility licence from one licensee to another.

Under The Pipelines Act, 1998, authorization is required by the Minister of Energy and Resources to transfer a pipeline or flowline licence from one licensee to another.

To transfer a licence where the licensee has been deemed an orphan, follow the Orphan Licence Transfer process.

Under the Financial Security and Site Closure Regulations (FSSCR) and Directive PNG025: Financial Security Requirements the Ministry of Energy and Resources is authorized to collect security deposits prior to licence transfers. Therefore, licensees with potential purchase and sales agreements are asked utilize the Security Deposit Estimator to ensure the parties are aware of potential security deposit requirements and conditions that may accompany the transfer.

Note: Where a security deposit is required, the transfer will not proceed until the security deposit has been received and processed.

For more information on the application process, refer to the How to Apply section below.

Note: Using the Security Deposit Estimator does not transfer licences. It estimates the security deposit requirement for a potential transfer. Although the eligibility requirements (below) do not using the Security Deposit Estimator, the applicant should review them to ensure there is no delay if the transfer were to proceed.

Before applying to transfer a well or facility licence, you must:

• Be eligible to hold a licence under Section 12 of The Oil and Gas Conservation Regulations, 2012.
• Have an IRIS account and the appropriate permissions assigned by your IRIS Security Administrator to submit a well or facility transfer application.
• Be registered with Information Services Corporation (ISC) as a corporation to do business in Saskatchewan.
• Obtain or be able to acquire the Surface Lease prior to accessing the transferred site(s) of interest;
• Obtain or be able to acquire the Mineral Rights Agreement for the transferred licence(s) zone of interest.

NOTE: Licensees that solely hold well/facility licences for purposes other than oil and gas production (such as potash mining, storage facilities, waste facilities, helium, lithium, etc.) may be eligible for an exemption from the Security Deposit requirements under the LLR Program and/or annual Orphan Fund Levy.

If a licensee is acquiring licences for the first time and would like to be considered for the exemption, please contact the ER.Servicedesk@gov.sk.ca with subject “Attn: Liability Regulations – non oil and gas producer” and provide supporting evidence for the ministry to review.

Licence Transfer Application

1. Ensure you meet all eligibility requirements.
2. Complete the applicable schedules, using the templates below, for the licences to be transferred, as shown in the example:
   
   
   • Schedule A - Wells
   • Schedule B - Facilities

   Note: Please be advised when completing Schedules A and B that the working interest participant (WIP) information is mandatory and must reflect the transferee's intentions assuming the transfer is authorized. This WIP information must include the WIP's full legal name and must be accurate as it cannot be edited when using the pre-transfer assessment authorization to create the licence transfer application.

   • Schedule C - Pipelines and Flowlines.

   Note: Please be advised when completing Schedules C that all segments under a given licence will be transferred upon approval. If you do not want all segments under a given licence to be transferred, perform a segment split prior to initiating a Licence Transfer application.

   For more information on licence splitting please see Pipeline Reporting Processes at the User Learning Centre.

   Please refer to Pipeline Licensing User Manual "Section 21" for more information regarding Pipeline/Flowline Licence Transfers.

3. Log in to IRIS to submit the Licence Transfer Application. For more information, refer to the Licence Transfer module at the User Learning Centre for step-by-step details of how to complete the Licence Transfer application in IRIS.
4. Click on Calculate Security Deposit, at the Preview Application screen, to estimate the security deposit requirements based on the upload schedules.

   Note: The estimated security deposit may change at the discretion of the minister at the time of the transfer application. The minister may consider the following when making a decision regarding a change in the security deposit amount:

   1. Non-compliance with respect to the ministry's regulatory programs and/or outstanding field inspection items;
   2. Knowledge of any issues of contamination at problem sites that have not been properly assessed in terms of remediation costs;
   3. Outstanding debts owed to the ministry;
   4. Any other relevant factors.

5. If you wish to proceed with the licence transfer, click Submit. Once you hit Submit, the application is no longer confidential to the applicant.

Post-submission – Transferor/Transferee must sign up to receive notifications when a work item has been assigned to either BA in the licence transfer application process. Delay in completion of the work items will result in a longer approval turnaround.

Below are work items both Transferor/Transferee may be assigned:

• Licence Transfer Concurrency Approval Work Item – this work item must be completed to initiate the Licence Transfer review process. The application will be denied if this work item is not completed within 30 days.
  • Transferor Approval - If the Transferee initiates a Transfer Application (in step 4 above), then the Transferor will receive this work item. The Transferor must indicate the Decision as “Recommend Approval” and mark the work item as “Complete” to progress the application.
  • Transferee Approval - If the Transferor initiates a Transfer Application (in step 4 above), then the Transferee will receive this work item. The Transferor must indicate the Decision as “Recommend Approval” and mark the work item as “Complete” to progress the application.
• Pay Security Deposit Work Item - The ministry conducts an evaluation to determine the amount of security deposit required for the transfer. If a security deposit is required, this work item will be created to the applicable licensee to submit payment within 30 days, and an OFT invoice will be issued through IRIS. Please do not submit payment until the invoice has been generated.
  NOTE: Once the payment has been made, the licensee must mark the work item as “Complete” to progress the application.


• Pay Outstanding Debt Work Item - The ministry conducts an evaluation to determine if there are any outstanding invoices associated with the Transferor/Transferee. If there are outstanding invoices this work item will be created for the applicable licensee to submit payment within eight days.
  NOTE: Once the payment has been made, the licensee must mark the work item as “Complete” to progress the application.

Licence Transfer application decisions are communicated as a notification in IRIS to the submitter. Please see Licence Transfer at the User Learning Centre for step-by-step details on how to obtain the Transfer Authorization results.

Authorized transfers are reflected in IRIS within the next business day. It is the responsibility of the Transferor and the Transferee to check if the transfer is completed in IRIS.

Note: The transferor may continue to view confidential data, submit new data or documents, related to the well or facility until the transfer is reflected in IRIS.

IRIS Login

Transferring a Cancelled or Abandoned Well

All wells – including a cancelled or abandoned well – can be transferred. Where possible, the proper Acknowledgement of Reclamation (AOR) Program process is to be completed before transferring a cancelled well to ensure unnecessary liability is not transferred to the new owner.

Once transferred, any existing abandonment or reclamation liability associated with the well becomes the new licensee's responsibility. Refer to the Acknowledgement of Reclamation (AOR) Program page for information on removing associated reclamation liability.

Acquiring Crown Mineral Leases

Petroleum and natural gas dispositions in Saskatchewan are acquired through Crown Public Offerings. Companies request land to be posted in the Public Offering and bid on parcels within the Integrated Resource Information System (IRIS).

There are a number of scenarios where an oil and gas disposition may be eligible to be transferred. In these scenarios, acquisition through the Public Offering would not be required. These include:

• if the transferor(s) and the transferee(s) have agreed to and signed (executed) the transfer; or
• if a transfer is executed by or on behalf of a trustee, receiver, receiver-manager, liquidator, executor, administrator, property guardian or other person acting in a similar capacity and is accompanied by required documentation as set out in the Crown Minerals Act; or
• if the transfer is a redistribution of the interest among the remaining holders.

For more information on mineral lease transfers visit Transfer a Crown Oil and Gas Disposition Application.