A Chinese-owned oilpatch company that recently drew the rath of the Alberta Energy Regulator has closed down, throwing 50 people out of work..SanLing Energy informed the AER on Wednesday it intends to cease operations as of April 30. .The move prompted the Orphan Well Association (OWA) to apply to the Court of Queen’s Bench to have a receiver assume control of SanLing’s inventory..Last month, the AER shut down SanLing operations after years of not paying landowners, municipal taxes or local vendors..SanLing Energy also owed $67 million in security payments to the AER related to well sites and infrastructure decommissioning..Despite their repeated failure to comply with past maintenance and cleanup orders, SanLing harvested over 3,781 BOE (Barrels of Oil Equivalent) per day from Alberta’s oil mineral reserves for years..“Our repeated attempts to bring SanLing into compliance have failed,” said Blair Reilly, AER director of Enforcement and Emergency Management, in a statement Wednesday..“While it’s unfortunate SanLing has decided to cease operations, we have systems in place for when companies cannot meet their responsibilities to close and clean up their sites.” .Reilly said SanLing committed to an orderly transition of its assets to a receiver before it ceases operations. This includes maintaining its 24-hour emergency response number and responding to any incidents, ensuring adequate staffing, and maintaining care of its assets until a receiver is in place..The receiver will support a transition of SanLing’s inventory to responsible parties, and the AER will orphan any remaining assets to the OWA for closure..“Albertans know that times are tough and our province’s energy industry is struggling,” said Lars DePauw, executive director for the OWA..“In these times, sometimes companies fail. When this happens, the Orphan Well Association is here to ensure the problems these companies are experiencing don’t become a problem for Albertans.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
