The Alberta government may have to return $130 million in leftover funding to the federal government after not spending the money to clean up old oil and gas wells.
The cash is part of the federal government’s $1.7-billion program in 2020 aimed at addressing the environmental risk of the aging oil and gas infrastructure, while also providing jobs to the beleaguered energy services sector after the pandemic began and oil prices crashed.
The federal money was divided between B.C. ($120 million), Alberta ($1 billion) and Saskatchewan ($400 million). Alberta’s Orphan Well Association received a $200-million loan to support the cleanup of wells left over
