Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. O-7)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

abandoned pipeline

abandoned pipeline means a pipeline the operation of which has been abandoned with the leave of the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator as required by paragraph 4.01(1)(d) and that remains in place; (pipeline abandonné)

Accord Acts

Accord Acts means

• (a) the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, and

• (b) the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act; (lois de mise en oeuvre)

Agreement

Agreement means the Agreement for Coordination and Cooperation in the Management and Administration of Petroleum Resources in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region that was made on June 25, 2013, as amended from time to time; (accord)

Chief Conservation Officer

Chief Conservation Officer means the person designated as the Chief Conservation Officer under section 3.1; (délégué à l’exploitation)

Chief Safety Officer

Chief Safety Officer means the person designated as the Chief Safety Officer under section 3.1; (délégué à la sécurité)

Committee

Committee means the Oil and Gas Committee established by section 6; (Comité)

federal Ministers

federal Ministers means the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Northern Affairs; (ministres fédéraux)

field

field

• (a) means a general surface area underlain or appearing to be underlain by one or more pools, and

• (b) includes the subsurface regions vertically beneath the general surface area referred to in paragraph (a); (champ)

former regulations

former regulations means the Canada Oil and Gas Land Regulations made pursuant to the Public Lands Grants Act and the Territorial Lands Act and includes orders made pursuant to those Regulations; (anciens règlements)

gas

gas means natural gas and includes all substances, other than oil, that are produced in association with natural gas; (gaz)

Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Inuvialuit Settlement Region has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Agreement — as defined in section 2 of the Western Arctic (Inuvialuit) Claims Settlement Act — excluding any area in Yukon or in the adjoining area as defined in section 2 of the Yukon Act; (région désignée des Inuvialuits)

lease

lease means an oil and gas lease issued pursuant to regulations made in accordance with the Territorial Lands Act and the Public Lands Grants Act and includes a production licence issued under the Canada Petroleum Resources Act; (concession)

Minister

Minister means

• (a) in relation to any area in respect of which the Minister of Northern Affairs has administrative responsibility for the natural resources therein, the Minister of Northern Affairs, and

• (b) in relation to any area in respect of which the Minister of Natural Resources has administrative responsibility for the natural resources therein, the Minister of Natural Resources; (ministre)

navigable water

navigable water has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Canadian Navigable Waters Act; (eaux navigables)

oil

oil means

• (a) crude petroleum regardless of gravity produced at a well-head in liquid form, and

• (b) any other hydrocarbons, except coal and gas, including hydrocarbons that may be extracted or recovered from surface or subsurface deposits, including deposits of oil sand, bitumen, bituminous sand, oil shale and other types of deposits; (pétrole)

onshore

onshore has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Northwest Territories Act; (région intracôtière)

permit

permit means an exploratory oil and gas permit issued pursuant to regulations made in accordance with the Territorial Lands Act and the Public Lands Grants Act and includes an exploration agreement entered into under the Canada Oil and Gas Land Regulations and any exploration agreement or licence that is subject to the Canada Petroleum Resources Act; (permis)

pipeline

pipeline means any pipe or any system or arrangement of pipes by which oil, gas or any substance, including water, incidental to the drilling for or production of oil or gas is conveyed from any well-head or other place at which it is produced to any other place, or from any place where it is stored, processed or treated to any other place, and includes all property of any kind used for the purpose of, or in connection with or incidental to, the operation of a pipeline in the gathering, transporting, handling and delivery of the oil, gas or substance and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, includes offshore installations or vessels, tanks, surface reservoirs, pumps, racks, storage and loading facilities, compressors, compressor stations, pressure measuring and controlling equipment and fixtures, flow controlling and measuring equipment and fixtures, metering equipment and fixtures, and heating, cooling and dehydrating equipment and fixtures, but does not include any pipe or any system or arrangement of pipes that constitutes a distribution system for the distribution of gas to ultimate consumers; (pipeline)

pool

pool means a natural underground reservoir containing or appearing to contain an accumulation of oil or gas or both oil and gas and being separated or appearing to be separated from any other such accumulation; (gisement)

prescribed

prescribed means prescribed by regulations made by the Governor in Council; (Version anglaise seulement)

Provincial Minister

Provincial Minister means the Provincial Minister within the meaning of either of the Accord Acts; (ministre provincial)

spill-treating agent

spill-treating agent, except in section 25.4, means a spill-treating agent that is on the list established under section 14.2; (agent de traitement)

straddling resource

straddling resource means a pool or field that the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator determines under section 48.02

• (a) is wholly or partly in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, other than in Inuvialuit lands as defined in Article 2.1 of the Agreement, and

• (b) straddles the offshore, as defined in section 48.01, and the onshore; (ressource chevauchante)

well

well means any opening in the ground, not being a seismic shot hole, that is made, to be made or is in the process of being made, by drilling, boring or other method,

• (a) for the production of oil or gas,

• (b) for the purpose of searching for or obtaining oil or gas,

• (c) for the purpose of obtaining water to inject into an underground formation,

• (d) for the purpose of injecting gas, air, water or other substance into an underground formation, or

• (e) for any purpose, if made through sedimentary rocks to a depth of at least one hundred and fifty metres. (puits)

Purpose

Marginal note:Purpose

2.1 The purpose of this Act is to promote, in respect of the exploration for and exploitation of oil and gas,

• (a) safety, particularly by encouraging persons exploring for and exploiting oil or gas to maintain a prudent regime for achieving safety;

• (b) the protection of the environment;

• (b.01) accountability in accordance with the “polluter pays” principle;

• (b.1) the safety of navigation in navigable waters;

• (c) the conservation of oil and gas resources;

• (d) joint production arrangements; and

• (e) economically efficient infrastructures.

Application

Marginal note:Application

3 This Act applies in respect of the exploration and drilling for and the production, conservation, processing and transportation of oil and gas in

• (a) that part of the onshore that is under the administration of a federal minister,

• (b) Nunavut,

• (c) Sable Island,

• (d) that part — of the internal waters of Canada or the territorial sea of Canada — that is not situated

  • (i) in a province other than the Northwest Territories, or

  • (ii) in that part of the onshore that is not under the administration of a federal minister, and

• (e) the continental shelf of Canada and the waters superjacent to the seabed of that continental shelf,

other than of oil and gas in the adjoining area, as defined in section 2 of the Yukon Act.

Chief Safety Officer and Chief Conservation Officer

Marginal note:Designation

3.1 The Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Energy Regulator may, for the purposes of this Act, designate an employee of the Canadian Energy Regulator to be the Chief Safety Officer and the same or another employee of that Regulator to be the Chief Conservation Officer.

Statutory Instruments Act

Marginal note:Orders

3.2 For greater certainty, an order made by a safety officer, the Chief Safety Officer, a conservation officer, the Chief Conservation Officer, the Committee or the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator is not a statutory instrument as defined in the Statutory Instruments Act.

Prohibition

Marginal note:Prohibition

4 No person shall carry on any work or activity related to the exploration or drilling for or the production, conservation, processing or transportation of oil or gas in any area to which this Act applies unless

• (a) that person is the holder of an operating licence issued under paragraph 5(1)(a);

• (b) that person is the holder of an authorization issued, before the commencement of operations, under paragraph 5(1)(b) for each such work or activity; and

• (c) where it is required, that person is authorized or entitled to carry on business in the place where that person proposes to carry on the work or activity.

Marginal note:Limitations on pipelines

• 4.01 (1) A holder of an authorization under paragraph 5(1)(b) to construct or operate a pipeline shall not, without the leave of the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator,

  • (a) sell, transfer or lease to any person its pipeline, in whole or in part;

  • (b) purchase or lease any pipeline from any person;

  • (c) enter into an agreement for amalgamation with any person; or

  • (d) abandon the operation of a pipeline.

• Definition of pipeline

  (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), pipeline includes a pipeline as defined in section 2 or any other pipeline.

• Marginal note:Terms and conditions — abandonment

  (2.1) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may, on granting leave to abandon the operation of a pipeline, impose any terms and conditions that it considers proper.

• Marginal note:Costs and expenses related to abandonment

  (2.2) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may order a holder of an authorization issued under paragraph 5(1)(b) or a holder of that authorization that has obtained the Commission’s leave to abandon the operation of its pipeline, or the holder’s successor or assign, to take any measure that the Commission considers necessary to ensure that the holder, or its successor or assign, has the ability to pay for the abandonment of its pipelines and any costs and expenses related to its abandoned pipelines.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) Despite paragraph (1)(a), leave shall only be required if the holder sells, transfers or leases any part of its pipeline that is capable of being operated for the transmission of oil, gas or any substance, including water, incidental to the drilling for or production of oil or gas.