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Worry builds over sour gas test case Calgary Health Region seeks to appeal, City of Calgary officials ready to ban drilling; residents near proposed wells fearful Gary Park Petroleum News Canadian Correspondent
Already on edge, 250,000 residents of southeast Calgary have to wait until November to find out whether they or the petroleum industry have won a showdown over the future of sour gas development near Alberta’s major populations.
That, in turn, is vital to 30 percent of Canada’s total natural gas production, 85 percent of which is locked in Alberta gas fields.
Although current figures are not available, the Canadian Centre for Energy Information estimated that sour gas production in 1998 was worth C$3.2 billion, 13 percent of upstream oil and gas revenues, contributed C$800 million in taxes and royalties and accounted for about 27,000 jobs in Alberta and British Columbia.
With trillions of cubic feet of gas potential at stake, the outcome of the Calgary test case is vital to the industry’s economic well being.
In its latest ruling Aug. 15, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board granted a 10-week extension to Compton Petroleum, which said it needs more time to work out a cooperative relationship with local government and health authorities before making a final decision on its plan to drill four sour gas wells on the city’s edge. Regulator has ruled four wells can be drilled The regulator, following the longest well-licensing hearing in its history, ruled in June that Compton could safely drill four of six wells, provided it met 15 safety conditions.
That set off a furor among residents, municipalities and the Calgary Health Region, which is seeking permissions from the Alberta Court of Appeal to challenge the board’s ruling on grounds that it does not properly address the health risks of drilling.
City of Calgary officials have said they are ready to issue an order banning drilling by Compton if their concerns are not properly handled.
Speaking for residents who live near the proposed wells, Marilynn Christensen said the drawn out controversy is only heightening the fears within the community.
Those anxieties intensified Aug. 9 when an oil well blowout in southeastern Alberta killed one rig worker and injured three others.
Initially, reports blamed sour gas, although the energy board has ruled that out as a factor in the Precision Drilling employee’s death.
It said the sour gas content of the well was less than 0.45 percent, far below the estimated 35.6 percent hydrogen sulfide content of the Compton wells, which the board insists can be drilled, completed and operated safely.
Compton said Aug. 15 that the court action and the threat of a public health order leave it in doubt over who has jurisdiction.
Company Vice President Derek Longfield said the issue of who rules must be resolved.
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