Canada Oil and Gas Land Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1518)

Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Canada Oil and Gas Land Regulations.

Interpretation

• 2 (1) In these Regulations,

  allowable expenditure

  allowable expenditure means the expenditure referred to in section 43; (dépenses admissibles)

  arbitrator

  arbitrator means the arbitrator referred to in section 97; (arbitre)

  bond

  bond means bond or other securities of or guaranteed by the Government of Canada; (titre or garantie)

  Canada lands

  Canada lands means

  • (a) territorial lands as defined in the Territorial Lands Act, and

  • (b) public lands as defined in the Public Lands Grants Act for the sale, lease or other disposition of which there is no provision in the law,

  and includes land under water; (terres du Canada)

  Chief

  Chief means the administrator of the Canada Oil and Gas Lands Administration of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development; (chef)

  commercial quantity

  commercial quantity means the output of oil or gas from a well that, in the opinion of the Chief, would warrant the drilling of another well in the same area, and in determining that opinion the Chief may consider the costs of drilling and producing and the volume of production; (quantité commerciale)

  Crown reserve lands

  Crown reserve lands means Canada lands in respect of which no interest granted or issued by or pursuant to these Regulations is in force and includes the submerged lands described in Schedule IV; (terres de réserve de la Couronne)

  Department

  Department means,

  • (a) in respect of Canada lands located in that part of Canada described in Schedule VI, the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and

  • (b) in respect of Canada lands other than those lands located in that part of Canada described in Schedule VI, the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources; (ministère)

  development structure

  development structure means any structure, facility or undertaking erected for the purpose of drilling an exploratory well or a development well or erected for the production, gathering, storing, processing, transmission or other handling of oil and gas; (plate-forme d’exploitation)

  development well

  development well means a well

  • (a) drilled pursuant to an order made under section 93, or

  • (b) the location of which is, in the opinion of the Chief, so related to the location of producible wells that there is every probability that it will produce from the same pool as the producible wells; (puits d’extension)

  exploration agreement

  exploration agreement means an exploration agreement entered into by the Minister or a person designated by the Minister pursuant to section 30; (contrat d’exploration)

  exploratory well

  exploratory well means any well that is not a development well; (puits de sondage)

  exploratory work

  exploratory work includes test drilling, aerial mapping, surveying, bulldozing, geological, geophysical and geochemical examinations and other investigations relating to the subsurface geology and all work, including the construction and maintenance of those facilities necessarily connected therewith and the building and maintenance of airstrips and roads required for the supply of or access to exploratory operations; (travaux de sondage)

  extraction plant

  extraction plant means any plant or equipment, other than a well, used for the extraction of oil or other substances produced in association with oil from surface or subsurface deposits of oil sand, bitumen, bituminous sand, oil shale or other deposits from which oil may be extracted; (usine d’extraction)

  gas

  gas means natural gas and includes all other minerals or constituents produced in association therewith, other than oil, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form; (gaz)

  holder

  holder means, in relation to any interest granted or issued under these Regulations, the person or persons registered as holder or holders of the interest; (titulaire)

  interest

  interest includes an exploration agreement; (intérêt)

  legal survey

  legal survey means a survey referred to in section 10; (arpentage officiel)

  lessee

  lessee means a person holding an oil and gas lease; (concessionnaire or titulaire de concession ordétenteur de concession)

  licence

  licence means an exploratory licence issued pursuant to section 24; (licence)

  licensee

  licensee means a person holding a licence; (titulaire de licence or détenteur de licence)

  Minister

  Minister means,

  • (a) in respect of Canada lands located in that part of Canada described in Schedule VI, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and

  • (b) in respect of Canada lands other than those lands located in that part of Canada described in Schedule VI, the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources; (ministre)

  monument

  monument means a post, stake, peg, mound, pit, trench or other device used to mark a boundary or the location of a well as set out in a plan of survey approved pursuant to section 11; (borne)

  offshore

  offshore means with respect to a drill site, a location within a water-covered area of Canada lands; (au large des côtes)

  oil

  oil means

  • (a) crude petroleum and other hydrocarbons regardless of gravity that are produced at a well head in liquid form by ordinary production methods,

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

  • (c) any other hydrocarbons except coal and gas; (pétrole)

  oil and gas lease

  oil and gas lease means an oil and gas lease granted pursuant to section 54 or 57; (concession de pétrole et de gaz)

  Oil Conservation Engineer

  Oil Conservation Engineer means an officer of the Department or other person designated by the Minister; (ingénieur en conservation du pétrole)

  permit

  permit means an exploratory permit issued pursuant to section 30 or 32 or renewed pursuant to section 40, as those sections read before August 3, 1977; (permis)

  permittee

  permittee means a person holding a permit; (titulaire de permis or détenteur de permis)

  Petro-Canada Limited

  Petro-Canada Limited means the corporation established by section 4 of the Petro-Canada Limited Act; (Petro-Canada Limitée)

  significant discovery

  significant discovery means a discovery of oil or gas that justifies the drilling of any well or wells in addition to the well or wells in which the discovery was made; (découverte importante)

  special renewal permit

  special renewal permit means a special renewal permit granted pursuant to section 116 or 117; (permis avec clause spéciale de renouvellement)

  Surveyor General

  Surveyor General means the person designated as Surveyor General under the Canada Lands Surveys Act; (arpenteur général)

  target area

  target area[Repealed, SOR/80-590, s. 1]

  well

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

  • (a) through which oil or gas could be obtained,

  • (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 through sedimentary rocks to a depth of at least 500 feet. (puits)

• (2) For the purpose of these Regulations, a well is deemed

  • (a) to be abandoned on the day that all cement plugs, as required by the Canada Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Regulations, are set to the satisfaction of the Oil Conservation Engineer;

  • (b) to be completed on the day that the well is first placed on steady or intermittent production of oil or gas or both, and appears, in the opinion of the Oil Conservation Engineer, capable of maintaining steady or intermittent production; and

  • (c) to be suspended on the day that drilling or production operations are suspended in a manner approved by the Oil Conservation Engineer but the well is not abandoned or completed.

• (3) Commercial exploitation shall be deemed to begin, with respect to a well or extraction plant, on the day on which the Minister, having considered the economic conditions, decides that a market exists commensurate to the productive capacity of the well or extraction plant.

Application

3 These Regulations apply only to Canada lands that are under the control, management and administration of the Minister.

Land Division

4 For the purposes of these Regulations, Canada lands shall be divided into grid areas.

• 5 (1) A grid area, the whole or greater part of which lies south of latitude 70°, shall be bounded on the east and west sides by successive meridians of longitude of the series 50°00′00″, 50°15′00″, 50°30′00″, which series may be extended as required, and on the north and south sides by straight lines joining the points of intersection of the east and west boundaries with successive parallels of latitude of the series 40°00′00″, 40°10′00″, 40°20′00″, which series may be extended as required.

• (2) A grid area, the whole of which lies north of latitude 70°, shall be bounded on the east and west sides by successive meridians of longitude of the series 50°00′00″, 50°30′00″, 51°00′00″, which series may be extended as required and on the north and south sides by straight lines joining the points of intersection of the east and west boundaries with successive parallels of latitude of the series 70°00′00″, 70°10′00″, 70°20′00″, which series may be extended as required.

• (3) Every grid area shall be referred to by the latitude and longitude of the northeast corner of that grid area.

• 6 (1) Between latitudes 40° and 60° and between latitudes 70° and 75° the boundary

  • (a) between the north and south halves of a grid area is the north boundary of sections 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85 and 95; and

  • (b) between the east and west halves of a grid area is the west boundary of sections 41 to 50.

• (2) Between latitudes 60° and 68° and between latitudes 75° and 78° the boundary

  • (a) between the north and south halves of a grid area is the north boundary of sections 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65 and 75; and

  • (b) between the east and west halves of a grid area is the west boundary of sections 31 to 40.

• (3) Between latitudes 68° and 70° and between latitudes 78° and 85° the boundary

  • (a) between the north and south halves of a grid area is the north boundary of sections 5, 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55; and

  • (b) between the east and west halves of a grid area is the west boundary of sections 21 to 30.

• 7 (1) Every grid area shall be divided into sections.

• (2) A section shall be bounded on the east and west sides by meridians spaced,

  • (a) in the case of a section within a grid area, the whole or greater part of which lies between latitudes 40° and 60° or between latitudes 70° and 75°, at intervals of one-tenth of the interval between the east and west boundaries of the grid area;

  • (b) in the case of a section within a grid area, the whole or greater part of which lies between latitudes 60° and 68° or between latitudes 75° and 78°, at intervals of one-eighth of the interval between the east and west boundaries of the grid area; and

  • (c) in the case of a section within a grid area, the whole or greater part of which lies between latitudes 68° and 70° or between latitudes 78° and 85°, at intervals of one-sixth of the interval between the east and west boundaries of the grid area.

• (3) A section shall be bounded on the north and south sides by straight lines drawn parallel to the north and south boundaries of the grid area and spaced at intervals of one-tenth of the interval between the north and south boundaries of the grid area.

• (4) A section shall be identified by the number to which it corresponds,

  • (a) in the case of a grid area described in paragraph (2)(a), as follows:

    100	90	80	70	60	50	40	30	20	10
    					49
    					48
    					47
    					46
    95	85	75	65	55	45	35	25	15	5
    					44
    					43
    					42
    91	81	71	61	51	41	31	21	11	1

  • (b) in the case of a grid area described in paragraph (2)(b), as follows:

    80	70	60	50	40	30	20	10
    				39
    				38
    				37
    				36
    75	65	55	45	35	25	15	5
    				34
    				33
    				32
    71	61	51	41	31	21	11	1

  • (c) in the case of a grid area described in paragraph (2)(c), as follows:

    60	50	40	30	20	10
    			29
    			28
    			27
    			26
    55	45	35	25	15	5
    			24
    			23
    			22
    51	41	31	21	11	1