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Bulletin 2009-01

January 13, 2009

2009 Orphan Levy

The Orphan Levy is based on the revenue requirements identified in the Alberta Orphan Oil and Gas Abandonment and Reclamation Association (Orphan Well Association) budget. The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) will allocate Orphan Levy costs among the licensees subject to the Licensee Liability Rating (LLR) assessment of February 7, 2009. Information on the LLR Program is in Directive 006: Licensee Liability Rating (LLR) Program and Licence Transfer Process.

This year each licensee will be invoiced for the percentage of the Orphan Levy annual budget that its deemed liability represents to the total industry deemed liability in the February 7, 2009, LLR assessment, according to the following formula:

Amount of levy   =  A x $12,000,000
                            B

where

A is the licensee’s deemed liability on February 7, 2009, for all wells, facilities, and unreclaimed sites licensed to the licensee, as calculated in accordance with Directive 006, and

B is the sum of the industry’s deemed liability on February 7, 2009, for all licensed wells, facilities, and unreclaimed sites, as calculated in accordance with Directive 006.

A licensee may review its calculated deemed liability at any time by accessing its LLR rating through the Digital Data Submission (DDS) program on the ERCB Web site at www.ercb.ca.

Invoices to licensees will be mailed no later than February 14, 2009, with payment required no later than March 6, 2009. Please note that all payments must be made to the ERCB. Payments received after March 6, 2009, are subject to a 20 per cent late-payment penalty. Failure to pay any invoice or late-payment penalty will result in the licensee being issued a First ERCB Notice of Low Risk Noncompliance, in accordance with Directive 019: ERCB Compliance Assurance—Enforcement.

Note that invoices for the 2009 Orphan Levy are sent to and are payable by the licensee of record at the time of the February 7, 2009, LLR assessment.

Any appeal should be sent to the attention of

Liability Management
ERCB Corporate Compliance
Telephone: 403-297-3113
Fax: 403-297-7168
E-mail: LiabilityManagement@ercb.ca

Notwithstanding the filing of an appeal, payment of invoices is required by March 6, 2009, with subsequent adjustments applied as needed following consideration of the appeal.

Questions regarding this bulletin should be directed to Tashi Sheka at 403-297-6500 or Holly Elliott at 403-297-3587, Corporate Compliance Group, of the Compliance, Environment, and Operations Branch.

<original signed by>

D. K. Boyler, P.Eng.
Executive Manager
Compliance, Environment, and Operations Branch