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

Jurisdiction and Powers of the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator

Marginal note:Jurisdiction

• 5.31 (1) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator has full and exclusive jurisdiction to inquire into, hear and determine any matter

  • (a) if it appears to the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator that any person failed to do any act, matter or thing required to be done by this Act, any regulation, order or direction made under this Act, or an operating licence or authorization issued under section 5, or that any person has done or is doing any act, matter or thing contrary to or in contravention of this Act, any regulation, order or direction made under this Act, or an operating licence or authorization issued under section 5; or

  • (b) if it appears to the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator that the circumstances may require the Commission, in the public interest, to make any order or give any direction, leave, sanction or approval that by law it is authorized to make or give, or with respect to any act, matter or thing that is prohibited, sanctioned or required to be done by this Act, any regulation, order or direction made under this Act, or an operating licence or authorization issued under section 5.

• Marginal note:Of its own motion

  (2) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may, of its own motion, inquire into, hear and determine any matter or thing that under this Act it may inquire into, hear and determine.

• Marginal note:Matters of law and fact

  (3) For the purposes of this Act, the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator has full jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters, whether of law or of fact.

Marginal note:Mandatory orders

5.32 The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may

• (a) order and require any person to do, without delay, or within or at any specified time and in any manner set by the Canadian Energy Regulator, any act, matter or thing that the person is or may be required to do under this Act, any regulation, order or direction made under this Act or an operating licence or authorization issued under section 5; and

• (b) prohibit the doing or continuing of any act, matter or thing that is contrary to this Act, any regulation, order or direction made under this Act or an operating licence or authorization issued under section 5.

Marginal note:Committee’s decisions and orders

5.33 Sections 5.31 and 5.32 do not apply to any act, matter or thing required by or contrary to any decision or order of the Committee.

Marginal note:Public hearings

5.331 The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may conduct a public hearing in relation to the exercise of any of its powers or the performance of any of its duties and functions under this Act.

Marginal note:Confidentiality

5.34 At any public hearing conducted under section 5.331 or in any proceedings with respect to Part 0.1, the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may take any measures and make any order that it considers necessary to ensure the confidentiality of any information likely to be disclosed at the hearing or in the proceedings if the Commission is satisfied that

• (a) disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to result in a material loss or gain to a person directly affected by the hearing or proceedings, or to prejudice the person’s competitive position, and the potential harm resulting from the disclosure outweighs the public interest in making the disclosure; or

• (b) the information is financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that is confidential information supplied to the Canadian Energy Regulator and

  • (i) the information has been consistently treated as confidential information by a person directly affected by the hearing or proceedings, and

  • (ii) the person’s interest in confidentiality outweighs the public interest in its disclosure.

Marginal note:Confidentiality — security

5.35 At any public hearing conducted under section 5.331 or in respect of any order, or in any proceedings, with respect to Part 0.1, the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may take any measures and make any order that it considers necessary to ensure the confidentiality of information that is likely to be disclosed at the hearing or in the proceedings or is contained in the order if the Commission is satisfied that

• (a) there is a real and substantial risk that disclosure of the information will impair the security of pipelines, buildings, installations, vessels, vehicles, aircraft or systems, including computer or communication systems, or methods employed to protect them; and

• (b) the need to prevent disclosure of the information outweighs the public interest in its disclosure.

Marginal note:Exception

5.351 The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator shall not take any measures or make any order under section 5.34 or 5.35 in respect of information or documentation referred to in paragraphs 101(7)(a) to (e) and (i) of the Canada Petroleum Resources Act.

Marginal note:Conditional orders, etc.

• 5.36 (1) Without limiting the generality of any provision of this Act that authorizes the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator to impose terms and conditions in respect of any operating licence or authorization issued under section 5 or any of its orders, the Commission may direct in any operating licence, authorization or order that it or any portion or provision of it shall come into force at a future time or on the happening of any contingency, event or condition specified in the operating licence, authorization or order or on the performance to the satisfaction of the Commission of any conditions or requirements that the Commission may impose in the operating licence, authorization or order, and the Commission may direct that the whole or any portion of the operating licence, authorization or order shall have force for a limited time or until the happening of a specified event.

• Marginal note:Interim orders

  (2) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may, instead of making an order final in the first instance, make an interim order, and may reserve its decision pending further proceedings in connection with any matter.

Documents

Marginal note:Documents

• 5.37 (1) A holder of the leave required by paragraph 4.01(1)(d) and a holder of an authorization to construct or operate a pipeline issued under paragraph 5(1)(b), or the successor or assign of either holder, shall keep, in a form and manner determined by the Canadian Energy Regulator, any documents, including any records or books of account, that the Regulator requires and that contain information that is determined by the Regulator to be necessary for the administration of this Act and any regulations made under it.

• Marginal note:Production and inspection

  (2) The holder of that leave and the holder of that authorization, or the successor or assign of either holder, shall produce those documents to the Canadian Energy Regulator, or make them available to the Regulator or its designated representative, for inspection or copying at a time and under conditions set by the Regulator.

Oil and Gas Administration Advisory Council

Marginal note:Council established

• 5.4 (1) There is established a council, to be known as the Oil and Gas Administration Advisory Council, consisting of the following six members, namely, the Chairperson of the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, the Chairperson of the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, the Chairperson of the board of directors of the Canadian Energy Regulator, a person designated jointly by the federal Ministers, a person designated by one of the Provincial Ministers and a person designated by the other Provincial Minister.

• Marginal note:Duty of Council

  (2) The Council shall promote consistency and improvement in the administration of the regulatory regime in force under this Act and Part III of the Accord Acts and provide advice respecting those matters to the federal Ministers, the Provincial Ministers, the Canadian Energy Regulator and the Boards referred to in subsection (1).

Offshore Oil and Gas Training Standards Advisory Board

Marginal note:Board established

• 5.5 (1) The federal Ministers, with the approval of the Provincial Ministers, may establish a board, to be known as the Offshore Oil and Gas Training Standards Advisory Board, consisting of not more than nine members, each of whom has special knowledge respecting offshore oil and gas operations or respecting training for such operations.

• Marginal note:Purpose

  (2) The Board shall inquire as to existing training standards and, if necessary, develop or encourage the development of training standards and shall recommend the adoption of training standards to the federal and Provincial Ministers, to the Canadian Energy Regulator and to the Boards referred to in subsection 5.4(1).

Extended Formation Flow Tests

Marginal note:Title

• 5.6 (1) Subject to subsection (2), title to oil and gas produced during an extended formation flow test vests in the person who conducts the test in accordance with an authorization under section 5, with every approval and requirement subject to which such an authorization is issued and with any applicable regulation, whether or not the person has a production licence issued under the Canada Petroleum Resources Act.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (2) Title to oil and gas referred to in subsection (1) is conditional on compliance with the terms of the authorization, approval or regulation, including the payment of royalties or other payment in lieu of royalties.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (3) This section applies only in respect of an extended formation flow test that provides significant information for determining the best recovery system for a reservoir or for determining the limits of a reservoir or the productivity of a well producing oil or gas from a reservoir and that does not adversely affect the ultimate recovery from a reservoir.

Oil and Gas Committee

Constitution

Marginal note:Oil and Gas Committee

• 6 (1) The Governor in Council may establish a committee to be known as the Oil and Gas Committee, which shall consist of five members, not more than three of whom shall be employees in the federal public administration.

• Marginal note:Ministerial direction

  (2) The Committee shall be under the direction of

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

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

• Marginal note:Appointment of members and chairman

  (3) The members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Governor in Council to hold office for a term of three years, and one member shall be designated as chairman for such term as may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Re-appointment permitted

  (4) A retiring chairman or retiring member may be re-appointed to the Committee in the same or another capacity.

Marginal note:Qualification of members

• 7 (1) The Governor in Council shall appoint as members of the Committee at least two persons who appear to the Governor in Council to have specialized, expert or technical knowledge of oil and gas.

• Marginal note:Departmental personnel and assistance

  (2) Persons employed in any division, branch or bureau of the Department of Indigenous Services, or the Department of Natural Resources, that is designated by order of the Minister concerned as the division, branch or bureau charged with the day-to-day administration and management of oil and gas resources for the Department, are not eligible to be members of the Committee, but the Ministers concerned may each designate one officer from any such division, branch or bureau who shall act as secretaries to the Committee.

• Marginal note:Staff

  (3) The Minister of Northern Affairs and the Minister of Natural Resources shall provide the Committee with such officers, clerks and employees as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the affairs of the Committee, and may provide the Committee with such professional or technical assistance for temporary periods or for specific work as the Committee may request, but no such assistance shall be provided otherwise than from the federal public administration except with the approval of the Treasury Board.

• Marginal note:Remuneration

  (4) The members of the Committee who are not employees in the federal public administration shall be paid such remuneration as may be authorized by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Expenses

  (5) The members of the Committee are entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses while absent from their ordinary place of residence in the course of their duties.

Marginal note:Interest in oil and gas properties

8 No member of the Committee shall have a pecuniary interest of any description, directly or indirectly, in any property in oil or gas to which this Act applies or own shares in any company engaged in any phase of the oil or gas industry in Canada in an amount in excess of five per cent of the issued shares thereof, and no member who owns any shares of any company engaged in any phase of the oil or gas industry in Canada shall vote when a question affecting such a company is before the Committee.