AWA Statement on the Government of Alberta’s Draft Mature Asset Strategy

March 19, 2025

Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) strongly condemns the Government of Alberta’s plan to use taxpayer money to pay for billions in cleanup costs owed by the oil and gas industry.

According to a Globe and Mail article published on March 17, a leaked draft document called the Mature Asset Strategy shows that the province plans to create new legislated entities which would be used to purchase “mature” oil and gas wells from companies. In doing so, the risk (and potentially cost) for decommissioning and cleanup could ultimately fall on taxpayers, rather than the oil and gas companies who are legally required to pay for cleanup.

The article states that there are more than 240,000 wells across Alberta that would be considered “mature” under the Mature Asset Strategy, and the total cost for cleanup could range from $33 billion to over $100 billion. At a time when Alberta’s public services are consistently underfunded, and when the government recently cut $4.2 million from environmental programs responsible for managing Alberta’s land, water, and emergency response, it’s inexcusable that the province plans to use public money in what amounts, in our opinion, to a bail out of private companies.

These are the same companies who currently owe rural municipalities across Alberta more than $250 million in unpaid property taxes. The oil and gas industry is failing to pay what they owe, both for taxes and for cleanup, and by commissioning this strategy and supporting this closed-door process, the Alberta government could make it easier for these companies to avoid payment.

AWA has read this report, and does not support the proposals in the draft Mature Asset Strategy or any process that exists to shift the burden for cleanup onto the public. Alberta must uphold the Polluter Pays Principle and compel these oil and gas companies to pay what they already owe, both in taxes and for cleanup.

For more information, contact:

Phillip Meintzer, Conservation Specialist

(403) 283-2025, pmeintzer@abwild.ca