Oil and gas companies to be billed an extra $9M towards well restoration after rise in orphan sites

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Oil and gas companies are being charged an extra $9 million each year towards cleaning up disused wells around the province. 

On October 22nd, the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) board of directors approved an increase to the Orphan Site Restoration Levy. 

Well permit holders were invoiced $15 million in April this year, but on November 3rd, they will be billed an additional $9 million to bring the total pot to $24 million for 2025. 

The levy is being increased to “address recent orphan designations made by the BCER,” it said in a press release issued on Friday, October 24th.

A well is designated an “orphan” when it has been abandoned and the oil and gas company responsible is declared bankrupt or cannot be located.

The CBC says there are currently 873 orphan wells in B.C., but it reports that number is set to increase to 978.

It is important to restore orphan wells to a more natural state because they can leak methane and toxins into the atmosphere if left unchecked, according to The Wilderness Society.

In a bid to tackle a rising number of orphan wells across the province, the BCER brought in the levy in 2019 to fund restoration efforts “in a timely manner,” and it is reviewed under the Fee, Levy and Security Regulation annually. 

The amount paid by each company is calculated by the BCER’s Permittee Capability Assessment program, which assesses each permit holder’s liability for its own wells and facilities. This means the total adds up to the sum of the deemed liability for wells and facilities of all oil and gas permit holders in B.C.

“The BCER has made significant progress cleaning up orphan wells,” the BCER said in the press release.

“As of March 2025, 80 per cent of orphan sites had been decommissioned and 30 per cent had been restored.”

Since the BCER released its Dormancy and Shutdown Regulation (DSR) program in 2019, the BCER said more wells have been decommissioned than drilled each year.

The new $24 million Orphan Site Restoration Levy for oil and gas permit holders will be invoiced annually, starting in 2026.