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

• 8 (1) Every section shall be divided into units.

• (2) Every unit shall be bounded on the east and west sides by meridians spaced at intervals of one-quarter of the interval between the east and west boundaries of the section.

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

• (4) Every unit shall be identified by the letter to which it corresponds in the following diagram:

  M	N	O	P
  L	K	J	I
  E	F	G	H
  D	C	B	A

9 All latitudes and longitudes used in these Regulations shall be referred to the North American Datum of 1927.

Surveys

• 10 (1) Subject to these Regulations, the provisions of The Canada Lands Surveys Act apply to any legal survey made pursuant to these Regulations.

• (2) No person shall make a legal survey of Canada lands other than a Canada Lands Surveyor.

• (3) A Canada Lands Surveyor may enter upon a permit area, lease area or development structure for the purpose of making a legal survey or other positional surveys if he gives prior written notice to the Chief.

• (4) The lessee, permittee, holder or operator Of a development structure shall give reasonable assistance to a Canada Lands Surveyor entering under subsection (3).

• (5) Any legal survey shall be authorized and paid for by the permittee, holder or lessee as the case may be.

• 11 (1) Every plan of legal survey shall be signed by the surveyor and submitted to the Surveyor General together with the surveyor’s field notes annexed to an affidavit of the surveyor verifying that he has executed the legal survey faithfully, correctly and in accordance with these Regulations and with any instructions issued to him by the Surveyor General.

• (2) Every plan of legal survey shall, where relevant, show

  • (a) the position, direction and length of the boundaries of grid areas and divisions thereof;

  • (b) the position of existing wells;

  • (c) the nature and position of any monument used to mark, or placed as a reference to, any boundary or position referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); and

  • (d) any road allowance, surveyed road, railway, pipeline, high voltage power lines or other right of way, dwellings, industrial plants, permanent buildings, air fields and existing or proposed fight ways.

• 12 (1) Where any uncertainty or dispute arises respecting the position of any well or boundary, the Chief may require a permittee, holder or lessee to file a plan of legal survey, approved by the Surveyor General, showing the well or boundary in respect of which the uncertainty or dispute has arisen.

• (2) A plan of legal survey shall show the position of such wells, boundaries and references as the Chief may specify.

13 The Surveyor General may, at the request of a permittee, lessee or holder, approve a plan of legal survey of the whole or part of a grid area, permit area, lease area, section, unit or the position of a well.

Monuments

14 The ground position of a grid area, permit area, lease area, section, unit or well may, in the discretion of the Surveyor General, be surveyed by reference to

• (a) a monument shown on a plan of legal survey that has been approved by the Surveyor General;

• (b) a geodetic survey triangulation station;

• (c) a geodetic survey Shoran station;

• (d) a marker placed for the purpose of marking a territorial boundary;

• (e) a monument as defined in the Dominion Lands Surveys Act or the Canada Lands Surveys Act;

• (f) a physical feature, the geographical position of which has been determined by means of a Shoran-controlled photogrammetric process;

• (g) a marker, the geographic position of which has been determined by astronomic means; or

• (h) any other marker approved by the Surveyor General.

• 15 (1) Where a monument shown on a plan of legal survey is damaged, destroyed, moved or altered as a result of the operations of a licensee, permittee, holder or lessee, he shall report the matter to the Chief as soon as possible and shall

  • (a) pay to the Receiver General of Canada the cost of restoration or re-establishment of the monument; or

  • (b) with the consent of the Surveyor General, cause the monument to be restored or re-established at his own expense.

• (2) Every permittee, lessee or holder shall maintain and keep in good repair all monuments that are located on or mark the boundaries of his permit area or lease area as the case may be.

• (3) The restoration or re-establishment of a monument under subsection (1) shall be done by a Canada Lands Surveyor under the instruction of the Surveyor General.

• (4) A permittee, lessee or holder shall give the Surveyor General and the Chief at least three months notice of any planned movement of an offshore development structure to which legal survey monuments have been attached and such movement shall not constitute movement of the monuments under subsection (1).

• (5) A licensee, permittee, lessee or holder shall report the destruction, damage to, movement or alteration of any monument to the Chief forthwith after he has knowledge of it.

16 Where the position of any boundary of a grid area, permit area, lease area, section or unit or the position of a well has been established by a legal survey approved by the Surveyor General pursuant to these Regulations, the position of that boundary or well so established shall be deemed to be the true position thereof, notwithstanding that the boundary or well is found not to be located in the position required by these Regulations and shall determine the position of all other sections or units that lie within the grid area.

• 17 (1) Where, owing lo a discordance of reference points or imprecisions in measuring, a subsequently surveyed grid area, section or unit appears to overlap a grid area, section or unit the position of which is deemed to be true by section 16, the subsequently surveyed grid area, section or unit shall be laid out and surveyed as though no overlap existed except that it shall be reduced by that portion that lies within the overlap.

• (2) Subject to subsection (1), a grid area that has been reduced pursuant to subsection (1) shall, for the purpose of these Regulations, be considered to be a whole grid area.

• (3) Where, owing to a discordance of reference points or imprecisions in measuring, a parcel of Canada lands appears not to lie within a grid area, that parcel may be disposed of pursuant to subsection 30(7) or section 57.

Exploration Wells

18 Every licensee, permittee, holder or lessee shall, before drilling an exploratory well offshore, send to the Oil Conservation Engineer three prints of a tentative plan showing the locations of the proposed drilling and a description of the system and method of positioning the well.

• 19 (1) Every permittee, holder or lessee shall, before the suspension or abandonment of any exploratory well, send to the Oil Conservation Engineer a plan that clearly shows the surveyed position of that well relative to

  • (a) a reference point referred to in section 14; or

  • (b) a topographical feature that is identifiable on

    • (i) a map that has been published by or on behalf of the Government Of Canada within three years immediately preceding the date on which the plan is submitted, or

    • (ii) a vertical aerial photograph, of mapping standard, obtained from the National Air Photo Library or from such other source as may be acceptable to the Surveyor General.

• (2) Where an aerial photograph is used pursuant to paragraph (1)(b), that photograph shall be sent to the Oil Conservation Engineer together with the plan.

• (3) A permittee, lessee or holder may, in lieu of the plan referred to in subsection (1), send to the Oil Conservation Engineer the aerial photograph referred to in subparagraph (1)(b)(ii) on which the surface position of the exploratory well has been clearly marked in a manner acceptable to the Surveyor General, after the position thereof has been determined by a field comparison between the site and the photograph.

• (4) Where a suspended or abandoned exploratory well is offshore, the electrical centres and other shore stations from which the position of the well was determined shall be permanently marked and the plan referred to in subsection (1) shall be accompanied by a report on the survey system describing all assumed parameters of the survey system and the shore station markings.

20 Every licensee permittee, lessee or holder shall, as soon as possible after an exploratory well is completed, send to the Oil Conservation Engineer three prints of a legal survey, approved by the Surveyor General showing the surface position of the well and the boundaries of the unit and section in which the well is located.

Development Wells

• 21 (1) Every permittee, lessee or holder shall, before drilling a development well, send to the Oil Conservation Engineer three prints of a tentative plan showing the approximate surface position of the proposed well and the proposed location of the well at total depth.

• (2) In the case of a development well on land, the permittee, lessee or holder shall

  • (a) within sixty days of commencing drilling, submit to the Surveyor General for approval a plan of legal survey showing the surface position of the well and the boundaries of the unit and section in which the well is located; and

  • (b) on request of the Chief, submit three prints of a plan showing the locus of the drillhole with respect to the unit and section boundaries.

• (3) In the case of a fixed offshore development structure, the permittee, lessee or holder shall

  • (a) as soon as possible after the erection of the development structure, submit to the Surveyor General for approval a plan of legal survey showing the unit and section in which the structure is situated and the positions of at least two monuments of the legal survey permanently fixed to the structure; and

  • (b) on request of the Chief, submit three prints of a plan showing the locus of the drillhole with respect to the unit and section boundaries and the position of the monuments of the legal survey.

• 22 (1) A tentative plan shall be approved by the Chief prior to the construction, alteration or extension of any work or works in the offshore that will, on completion thereof form all or part of an undertaking for the production, gathering, storing, processing transmission or other handling of oil and gas and such plans shall show the proposed work or works and the system of survey to be used in positioning the work or works.

• (2) A final plan satisfactory to the Chief shall, on his request, be submitted to him within six months from the completion of any part of an undertaking described in subsection (1).

Prohibition

• 23 (1) No person shall, for the purpose of searching for oil or gas, carry out exploratory work on Canada lands except as authorized by these Regulations.

• (2) No person shall produce, mine, quarry or extract from Canada lands any oil, gas or other minerals or substances that are produced, mined, quarried or extracted in association with any oil or gas except as authorized by these Regulations.

PART ILicences, Exploration Agreements and Permits

Exploratory Licences

• 24 (1) Any individual who is 21 years of age or over may submit an application for a licence.

• (2) Any corporation that is registered with the Registrar of companies pursuant to the Companies Ordinance of the Northwest Territories may submit an application for a licence with respect to Canada lands within the Northwest Territories.

• (3) Any corporation that is entitled to carry on business in any province may submit an application for a licence with respect to Canada lands outside the Northwest Territories.

• (4) Every person who submits an application for a licence shall forward his application to the Chief or Oil Conservation Engineer, together with the fee set out therefor in Schedule I.

• 25 (1) Upon receipt of an application referred to in section 24, the Chief or the Oil Conservation Engineer may issue a licence to the applicant.

• (2) Every licence issued under subsection (1) expires on March 31st next following the date on which it was issued.

• (3) No person shall assign or transfer a licence and any purported assignment or transfer of a licence is void.

• 26 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a licensee may, for the purpose of searching for oil or gas enter upon and use the surface of any Canada lands in order to

  • (a) make geological or geophysical examinations;

  • (b) carry out aerial mapping; or

  • (c) investigate the subsurface.

• (2) No licensee shall enter upon Canada lands that have been disposed of in any way by Her Majesty, except Canada lands that are included in a permit or oil and gas lease granted under these Regulations, unless the licensee has obtained

  • (a) the consent of the occupier thereof; or

  • (b) an order for entry from the arbitrator.

27 No licensee shall drill on any Canada lands a hole deeper than 1,000 feet unless

• (a) in the case of Canada lands included in a permit or lease, the licensee has obtained the written consent of the permittee or lessee; or

• (b) in the case of Canada lands not included in a permit or lease, the licensee has obtained the written consent of the Chief.

28 Every licensee who carries out work on Canada lands not held by him under permit or lease shall, upon completion of the work, furnish the Chief with three copies of

• (a) a map on a scale of not less than 4 miles to 1 inch showing the area covered by the examination and indicating the location of all roads and airstrips:

• (b) information obtained as to the presence of water, coal, gravel, sand or other potentially useful minerals; and

• (c) all reports, photographs, maps and data referred to in section 53.