On November 5, 2014, following more than two years of regulatory
process and the first regulatory appeal under the Responsible
Energy Development Act (REDA), the Alberta Energy Regulator
(AER) issued decision 2014 ABAER 013 approving the Prosper
Petroleum Ltd. (Prosper) oil sands exploration (OSE) program. This
decision marks the second time that the AER has held a hearing to
consider an OSE program (the first being the Teck Resources OSE
Program that was approved in 2013 [2013 ABAER 017]). There are
several aspects of this proceeding that are important for oil sands
developers to be aware of when planning future OSE programs.
Background and Chronology of Events
Prosper's OSE program is relatively small in scope (24 OSE
wells), but it is located immediately south of Buffalo (Namur)
Lake, an area of importance for the Fort McKay First Nation
(Prosper's lease is adjacent to the Dover Commercial Project, a
project that was fervently opposed by Fort McKay in 2012 and