ERCBGovernment of Alberta

Common Upstream Oil and Gas Activities

The Government of Alberta regulates many, and in some cases all, aspects of a number of activities throughout the construction, operation, maintenance, abandonment, remediation and reclamation stages of the activities’ lifecycle. This section provides an overview of key authorizations applicants need for the following seven common regulated upstream oil and gas activities:
  1. Exploration: means any operation on or over land or water to determine geologic conditions underlying the surface of land or water.

  2. In-Situ Recovery Scheme/Facilities: Facilities, wells and pipelines associated with the in situ extraction of bitumen. This guide does not cover the regulation of upgraders and heavy oil processing plants.

  3. Wells and Production Facilities: Includes structures used for the extraction, storage and processing of petroleum-related substances (e.g., gas, oil, bitumen, heavy oil, HPV, LVP, salt water), including sweet wells, sour wells, compressor stations, batteries, and satellites. Sour wells, pipelines and facilities process oil and gas containing hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and other sulphur compounds. Please refer to specific regulatory instruments for amount of H2S that must be present to be classified as ‘sour.’   

  4. Pipelines: A piping system used to transport petroleum-related substances including gas, oil, bitumen, heavy oil, as well as produced water and oilfield waste. This guide focuses on pipeline gathering systems and does not include major transmission pipelines.

  5. Sour Gas Plants: Plant that processes raw sour gas and separates and removes sulphur compounds from the raw gas stream.

  6. Oilfield Waste Management Facilities: Facilities that manage, treat and dispose of oilfield waste.

  7. Roads and other linear disturbance: Roads, trails, water body crossings and other linear disturbances that provide permanent, temporary, and seasonal access to upstream oil and gas activities and facilities.
These seven activities may also be required to meet additional requirements throughout their lifecycle. For complete details on authorizations, read the relevant requirements (e.g., policies, legislation, regulations, codes of practice, directives) on the responsible agencies’ web sites. Users of the following tables should consult with the governing legislation and/or agencies for further details.

Details on key authorizations and consultation requirements for these activities are in Authorization Descriptions.