How $260 billion in cleanup liabilities, $121 billion in excess profits, and $12.6 trillion in fraudulent collateral were systematically hidden from the public.
By Regan Boychuk, independent researcher, co-founder of the Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project & the Polluter Pay Federation
Key statistics from our decade of research into Alberta's oil and gas industry
Total estimated cleanup liability for wells, pipelines, and facilities across Alberta. The regulator's own range.
Source: Alberta Energy Regulator via FOIPUnreclaimed wells across Alberta, each requiring remediation costing hundreds of thousands of dollars
Operating wells that no longer hold enough oil and gas to pay for their own remediation
Licensed oil and gas companies that are technically insolvent, with liabilities exceeding assets
Daily public subsidy to energy cleanup through grants, unpaid taxes, and outstanding landowner payments
Excess profit granted to industry above government targets (1999–2008, conventional oil & gas alone)
Collective tax arrears owed by oil companies to rural municipalities, forcing service cuts
Of $525B in conventional oil & gas production value (1999–2008), the government collected only $104B in royalties and land sales while industry kept $148B in pre-tax profit.
Source: Parkland Institute "Misplaced Generosity"To understand the scale of the liability, consider what $260 billion represents:
Drag the slider to see how different royalty rates would have changed Alberta's wealth. Based on $525B in conventional production value (1999-2008).
Norway's fund ($2.8T+ CAD) reflects decades of disciplined saving at ~78% government take. Alberta's Heritage Fund has barely grown since 1987.
Government's own target was 50–75% of resource rent. Actual average: 47.4% for conventional, just 8.9–14.6% for tar sands.
Capital flows in Alberta's oil and gas industry (1999–2008, conventional production). Hover or tap nodes to trace the flow.
The historical timeline of how Alberta's oil wealth was systematically extracted
"Dining on the profits of public resources, then dashing on your dues to society is not a business model worth rescuing."
Regan BoychukDeclining production value of remaining reserves
$58B – $260B and growing every day
Legislation already forces industry to fund orphan well cleanup. The real threat: 8,000+ wells belonging to hundreds of companies "bankrupt in all but name" that aren't classified as orphaned.
Trident Exploration collapsed in 2019, abandoning 4,000+ wells still producing approximately 10,000 barrels of oil daily. The public inherited the cleanup bill.
Industry "stiffed landowners for tens of millions of dollars in compensation" and refused access payments. Rural municipalities are owed $173 million in unpaid taxes.
Canadians subsidize energy cleanup at $4.3 million per day through government grants, unpaid taxes, and outstanding lease payments to landowners.
Each dot represents approximately 1,000 wells, arranged in the shape of Alberta. Click any dot to highlight all wells with the same status.
"The liability crisis is only half the story. The other half is where the money went."
Our investigation into how Alberta bitumen reserves became the foundation for the 2008 financial crisis
175 billion barrels of Alberta bitumen officially recognized as "proven" reserves, the same day US Marines completed the Iraqi occupation.
National Instrument 51-101 (Sept 26, 2003) changed reserve disclosure standards, enabling Alberta bitumen to be booked as proven reserves on financial statements.
"I'm worried that if it goes through that way, I don't want to be associated with it."Henry Lawrie, former ASC chief accountant, who resigned before implementation
175 billion barrels × $72/barrel = $12.6 trillion in new collateral, unleveraged. This collateral flooded the banking system.
$7.2 trillion in new mortgage debt accumulated before the 2008 crisis. The FBI warned of an "epidemic" of mortgage fraud that could become "the next S&L crisis."
The bubble burst, precipitating the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Alan Greenspan later acknowledged: "the Iraq war is largely about oil."
How oil and gas industry borrowing exploded after reserve reclassification
We argue that the 2003 US invasion of Iraq was not about stealing Iraqi oil, but about keeping Iraqi oil off the world market to maximize the value of 175 billion barrels of newly-"proven" Alberta bitumen. This collateral, controlled by banking interests, was used to fuel the housing bubble whose bursting precipitated the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
$1.2 trillion in total theft estimated since the 2015 Paris climate agreement alone.
"Danielle Smith's program would hand them money for free."
Regan BoychukOur proposed solution: enforce the polluter-pays principle to unlock Alberta's next great jobs boom
Step in on insolvent companies, operate remaining productive wells, and use revenue to fund remediation.
Require the Alberta Energy Regulator to collect all outstanding industry levies.
Prioritize Indigenous-led cleanup businesses and land restoration projects.
Establish mechanisms for landowners to recover cleanup costs from responsible companies.
Begin cleanup at sites where companies owe the most in municipal taxes.
"With 300,000 wells to be cleaned up, there's decades of work in every corner of the province. Enforcing the polluter-pays principle isn't just good policy, it's the foundation for Alberta's next great economic transformation."Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project, "The Big Cleanup" (2021)
The web of power connecting government, industry, regulators, and finance. Hover or tap nodes to trace the flows of money, influence, and liability.
Have information to share? Want to collaborate on this research? Reach out directly.
All data in this visualization is drawn from public research
Parkland Institute, University of Alberta. By Regan Boychuk.
Peer-reviewed study of royalties and profits in Alberta's oil and gas industry.
parklandinstitute.ca ↗Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project. By Boychuk, R., Anielski, M., Snow, J. Jr., & Stelfox, B.
How enforcing the polluter-pay principle can unlock Alberta's next great jobs boom.
CBC coverage ↗The Canada Files. By Regan Boychuk.
Investigation into connections between Alberta reserves, the Iraq war, and the 2008 financial crisis.
thecanadafiles.com ↗Alberta Politics / Polluter Pay Federation.
Deep investigation into the history and implications of the RStar / Liability Management Incentive Program.
albertapolitics.ca ↗The Tyee. Analysis of the $260 billion cleanup problem.
thetyee.ca ↗CBC News Opinion. By Regan Boychuk.
Arguments against the dine-and-dash business model in oil and gas.
cbc.ca ↗Regan Boychuk, former public policy research manager, Parkland Institute. Co-founder of Reclaim Alberta, the Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project, and the Polluter Pay Federation. Appointed to Alberta's 2015 Royalty Review Panel and participated in the 2017 Liability Management Review.
reclaimalberta.ca ↗