‘Ongoing non-compliances, repeated missed commitments, lack of tangible corrective action’ left the regulator no alternative
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has ordered Calgary-based MAGA Energy Ltd., an oil and gas producer operating hundreds of wells, facilities and pipelines across the province, to permanently decommission its assets, according to a report by CBC News.
The order requires MAGA to submit a detailed abandonment plan by Sept. 30 covering 581 wells, 108 facilities and 801 pipeline segments, CBC News reported. A full reclamation plan is due by Oct. 15.
Jon Keeler, the AER's director of field operations, wrote in the Sept. 4 order that MAGA "has failed to return to compliance" despite repeated warnings, CBC News reported. He added that the company's "ongoing non-compliances, repeated missed commitments, lack of tangible corrective action, and repeated assertions that it lacks the financial capacity to meet its regulatory obligations" left the regulator no alternative.
Safety and environmental failures
CBC News reported that the order follows an April suspension directive requiring MAGA to shut in wells and power down equipment. Rather than improving, the company's compliance record worsened afterward, similar to another Alberta operator ordered to suspend its wells and pipelines for comparable non-compliance.
An Aug. 24 pipeline leak roughly 10 kilometres west of Edmonton went unaddressed for at least four days, according to CBC News. The company failed 19 of 24 recent field inspections and left 74 inactive wells non-compliant — echoing a separate case involving fines for violating an environmental protection order elsewhere in the province.
University of Calgary law professor Shaun Fluker told CBC News he is skeptical the order will have much practical effect. "There's not a lot on the record to suggest that this particular abandonment order is going to make a difference," Fluker said.
Financial debts and regulatory gaps
MAGA has missed site liability assessments and unpaid AER administrative fees for two years, CBC News reported. Fluker also questioned how the company acquired additional licences in September 2024 despite visible financial distress — a pattern also raised in a recent penalty decision tied to a well-abandonment worksite injury involving other Alberta operators.
Sturgeon County said MAGA owes nearly $452,000 in unpaid municipal property taxes and is "monitoring closely — and with concern." RMA president Kara Westerlund said unpaid oil and gas property taxes provincewide now exceed $253 million. "We need to move quickly with these regulation changes to prevent this from happening again," Westerlund said, per CBC News.
