Canada's top court has agreed to review a ruling that could allow energy companies that have gone bankrupt to walk away from cleaning up abandoned oil wells. Regulators are concerned that if the Redwater ruling stands, worthless oil and gas wells will be abandoned across the province as struggling oil operators fold. The battle began when Calgary-based Redwater Energy Corp. went bankrupt last year, triggering a fight between the AER and the provincially-owned ATB over the remains. The Redwater Energy Corp. trustee and its lender, ATB Financial, wanted to sell off the company's remaining producing wells to pay creditors. Since the Redwater decision came down, about 1,600 AER-licensed sites have been disclaimed by receivers, with estimated liabilities of more than $100 million.

Source: CBC News November 09, 2017 16:16 UTC