By Emily Keller

orphan wells

Province extends loan to Orphan Well Association by up to $100-million

Mar 9, 2020 | 5:30 AM

The province announced last week that it is extending their loan to the Orphan Well Association (OWA) up to $100 million.

The loan extension will help the association decommission approximately 1,000 wells and begin more than 1,000 environmental site assessments for reclamation.

Lars De Pauw, Executive Director of the Orphan Well Association, says they were very happy with this announcement.

“We’ve been working hard over the last three years to increase our capabilities and increase the efficiencies we’re getting on the field in these projects, so this loan is going to help us maintain the momentum that we’ve created over the last three years.”

The province says this loan is part of their Blueprint for Jobs plan, and that it will help generate up to 500 jobs in the oil services sector.

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De Pauw says various factors go into the work they do on orphan wells, and they are hopeful this loan will help them help landowners affected by the orphan wells.

“The sites that we’re dealing with, it’s a time and money equation. So, having more money sooner means we’ll deal with more sites sooner.”

The province says they are still finalizing specific loan terms and conditions and establishing a repayment schedule.

They add that both the province and OWA have agreed that this investment will be completed before April 1, 2021.

The Alberta government had previously given the association a $235 million, interest-free loan, which they began paying back in 2019.