WorldWide Drilling Resource®

www.starironworks.com 257 Caroline Street Punxsutawney, PA 15767 800-927-0560 • 814-427-2555 Fax: 814-427-5164 SERVINGTHECONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Serving the Drilling Industry 19 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JUNE 2020 Decommissioning Wells & Creating Jobs Adapted from Information by the Government of Alberta The Government of Alberta, Canada, is laser-focused on creating jobs, growing the econ- omy, and getting Albertans back to work. Their plan, A Blueprint for Jobs, is built on the province’s strengths - young and skilled workers, abundant natural resources, and history of technological research and innovation, especially in the energy industry. They want to attract job-creating pri- vate sector investment from across Canada and around the world. As the first step in A Blueprint for Jobs , the Government of Alberta is extending its loan to the Orphan Well Association (OWA) by up to $100 million. The loan will boost the association’s immediate reclamation efforts and generate up to 500 direct and indirect jobs in the oil services sector. OWA is an independent nonprofit organization operating under the delegated legal authority of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). The mandate of the OWA is to safely decommission orphan gas and oil wells, pipelines, and production facilities, and restore the land as close to its orig- inal state as possible. Funding for the OWA comes primarily from the upstream gas and oil industry, through the annual Orphan Fund Levy administered by the AER. The Orphan Well Association continues to increase efficiencies and the num- ber of sites being addressed. This new loan will further efforts while helping Alberta’s service sector, and reducing the impact on affected landowners. The loan will enable OWA to decommission approximately 1000 wells and start more than 1000 environmental site assessments for reclamation. The Government previously provided OWAwith a $235 million interest-free loan, which the organization began repaying in 2019, using money received through levies. Editor’s Note: In between our print issues, the WWDR Team prepares an electronic newsletter called E-News Flash . This newsletter is filled with articles not included in our print issue. Based on readership, this was the most popular article of the month. Get in on the action and subscribe today at: www.worldwidedrillingresource.com G&O Protection and Safety will be the editorial focus for the August issue. Submit your article ideas to: bonnie@ worldwidedrillingresource.com

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