Alberta
RCMP charges Calgary resident for importing nearly $3 million in cocaine
News release from Alberta RCMP
The Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET), a joint force operation between the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Calgary Police Service, has charged a Calgary resident for drug importation and trafficking.
On Nov. 19, 2023, CBSA officers discovered and seized 52 kg of cocaine following a secondary examination of a commercial truck trailer at the Coutts border crossing. The drugs, which have an approximate value of $3 million, were seized from the trailer and were referred over to IBET for further investigation.
Kamalpreet Singh, 28, a resident of Calgary, was charged with the following offences:
- Importation of a Controlled Substance contrary to section 6(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Acts; and,
- Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking contrary to section 5(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act; and,
- Smuggling into Canada contrary to section 159(1) of the Customs Act.
Singh is scheduled to appear in Lethbridge Provincial Court on Jan. 2, 2024.
“As a result of the strong working relationship between agencies in this joint force operation, we successfully disrupted the importation and trafficking of harmful drugs into Canada.”
- Supt. Sean Boser, Officer-in-Charge of Federal Policing – Calgary, RCMP
“The safety and security of Canadians is our government’s top priority. By stopping illegal drugs at the border, we’re reducing the risk of harm to Canadians and keeping our communities safe. This seizure is another example of the ongoing cooperation between the CBSA and the RCMP in protecting Canadians.”
- Janalee Bell-Boychuk, Regional Director General, Prairie Region, Canada Border Services Agency
“As law enforcement agencies, a top priority of our collaboration is public safety. Working together, we have prevented another large quantity of illicit drugs from reaching our city and communities across Alberta, which in turn has prevented criminal activity associated with the drug trade. This continued success proves how important our partnership is to maintaining safety for all Albertans.”
- Supt. Cory Dayley, Criminal Operations and Intelligence Division, Calgary Police Service
IBET’s mandate is to enhance border integrity and security along the shared border, between designated ports of entry, by identifying, investigating and interdicting persons, organizations and goods that are involved in criminal activities.
From the Canadian Energy Center
By Grady Semmens$923 million spent cleaning up inactive wells, sites and pipelines in 2023
As a business owner, Ryan Smith values few things more than predictability when it comes to the oil and gas market and the demand for his company’s services.
That’s why knowing that next year in Alberta, the regulator requires at least $750 million worth of work cleaning up inactive oil and gas wells and other legacy energy infrastructure is tremendously helpful for the CEO of Calgary-based 360 Engineering & Environmental Consulting.
“Having a minimum spend in place for the province makes the market more predictable and consistent, which in turn helps our clients and our business plan for the future, which is a good thing,” says Smith, whose company has completed more than 5,000 site closure activities in Canada and internationally since 2015.
“Site closure has really emerged as a growth market over the last decade, especially in Western Canada where the regulatory systems for oil and gas are more advanced than anywhere else we are exposed to. It is an integral part of the energy lifecycle, and if it is done well it adds a lot of value to the industry.”
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) introduced an industry-wide minimum “closure” spending requirement in 2022, part of Alberta’s Inventory Reduction Program to accelerate the remediation of inactive oil and gas wells, facilities and pipelines across the province.
The mandatory quota determines the minimum level of work a company must conduct primarily to decommission and reclaim a proportion of its inactive inventory.
Inactive wells are defined as those that have not been used for six months or a year, depending on what they are being used for. When a company decides that they will not reactivate an inactive well they decommission it through a process called abandonment.
A well is considered successfully abandoned after it is cleaned, plugged with cement, cut to a minimum of one meter below the surface and covered with a vented cap. After abandonment comes remediation and reclamation, where the land around the well is returned to the equivalent of its original state.
The first two years under the new rules saw Alberta’s energy industry significantly exceed the minimum closure requirements.
In 2022, companies spent more than $696 million, about 65 per cent more than the initial threshold of $422 million. The AER increased the minimum spend to $700 million in 2023, which producers surpassed by 22 per cent with total expenditures of $923 million.
The 2024 minimum remains at $700 million, while in July the regulator announced that the minimum spend for 2025 was raised to $750 million.
This closure work does not include remediation of oil sands mining sites, which is handled under the Mine Financial Security Program, nor does it include the closure of orphan wells (wells without a legal owner) managed by the industry-funded Orphan Well Association.
Gurpreet Lail, CEO of Enserva, an industry association representing energy service companies, suppliers and manufacturers, says there was an initial rush of closure work when the quotas were first put in place, but activity has since become more even as companies develop long-term closure plans.
“A lot of the low-lying fruit has been taken care of, so now companies are working on more complex closure files that take more time and more money,” Lail says.
Facility owners say that Alberta’s rules provide direction for planning closure and remediation work, which in the past may have been put on hold due to the ups and downs of the oil and gas market.
“When commodity prices are up, everyone is focused on drilling more wells and when prices are down, budgets are strained for doing work that doesn’t bring in revenue. Having a minimum spend makes sure closure work happens every year and ensures there is longer-term progress,” says Deborah Borthwick, asset retirement coordinator for Birchcliff Energy, an oil and natural gas producer focused in Alberta.
Over the last few years, Birchcliff has budgeted more than $3 million for annual facility closure work, far above its required minimum spend.
The company completed 11 well abandonments and decommissioned 23 facilities and pipelines in 2022, according to its latest environmental, social and governance report.
Borthwick says having the closure quota for 2025 already set has allowed it to plan ahead and line up the necessary service companies well in advance for next year’s remediation work.
Alberta has cut its methane emissions from the oil and gas sector in half, showing how to reduce emissions and keep powering the world.
As global demand for energy continues to rise, Alberta remains one of the most responsible producers in the world. The province was the first in Canada to set a methane emissions reduction target for the upstream oil and gas sector, and its approach has won international awards and recognition.
This is the message Alberta’s government will take to COP 29. The Alberta approach is working. It is possible to reduce methane emissions and grow the economy, all while delivering the safe, affordable, reliable energy the world will need for generations to come.
According to the latest data from the Alberta Energy Regulator, Alberta has now officially reduced methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 52 per cent since 2014, even as production has continued rising. The province’s common-sense approach is reducing emissions, creating jobs and growing the economy without punitive federal regulations or caps.
“We do not need Ottawa to tell us how to reduce emissions. In fact, the federal government should learn from Alberta’s success. By working closely with industry and focusing on technology, not costly taxes or unrealistic targets, we can achieve rapid emission reductions while delivering the safe, affordable, reliable energy the world needs.”
Under Alberta’s equivalency agreement with the Government of Canada, the province is in charge of regulating methane emissions. Alberta’s approach is working closely with industry and focusing on achievable results, including early action programs like carbon offsets, implementation of strong provincial regulatory requirements in place for all facilities, and improved leak detection and repair. This is estimated to have saved industry about $600 million compared with the alternative federal regulations that would otherwise have been required.
Since 2020, Alberta has invested $78 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction program to improve methane monitoring and management. Almost 15,000 well sites and facilities have been reviewed across the province, preventing nearly 17 million tonnes of emissions from being released.
Continuing this momentum, the province recently announced $15 million in funding for the NGIF Emissions Testing Centre to help companies test technologies free of charge in both laboratory and live settings, attract investors and get methane emissions reduction technologies to market faster. Alberta is also engaging with industry to develop a flexible, forward-looking path that will keep reducing emissions while supporting responsible energy production.
“Tourmaline, like other producers in Western Canada, has been diligently reducing methane emission intensity across our field operations, and we are targeting a 55 per cent reduction from 2020 levels by 2027. We operate a world-leading methane emissions testing centre (ETC) at our West Wolf Lake gas plant near Edson, Alberta. At the ETC site, the latest technologies to better measure and mitigate future methane emissions are being developed.”
Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz will travel to the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 29) from Nov. 10 to 16 to share Alberta’s success with the world. Alberta’s environment minister will use the largest global climate summit to promote the province’s effective approach to reducing emissions while keeping energy reliable, secure and affordable.
Alberta’s government is committed to working with national and international partners to advance shared interests that can lead to new opportunities for people and businesses around the world.
Minister Schulz will attend COP29 with one staff member and three department officials. Mission expenses will be posted on the travel and expense disclosure page.
Itinerary for Minister Schulz*
| Nov. 10-11 |
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| Nov. 12 |
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| Nov. 13 |
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| Nov. 14 |
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| Nov. 15 |
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| Nov. 16 |
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*Subject to change.
Quick facts
- The Alberta Energy Regulator monitors, compiles and reports methane emissions data by facility type, production type and area. It releases the ST60B report annually to ensure the public and stakeholders have the latest information about methane emissions from Alberta’s upstream oil and gas sector.
- Alberta carbon offset protocols resulted in more than 58,000 low- or no-bleed devices being installed, and more than 7 million offset credits have been serialized.
- Alberta uses a combination of bottom-up and top-down measurement, monitoring and verification techniques as part of methane measurement compliance data.
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