Summary Judgment Is Increasingly Unavailable For Disputes Involving Oil And Gas Contracts

On October 2, 2018, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench refused to grant summary judgment in a case involving a farmout agreement between Teine Energy Limited (Teine) and Audax Investments Ltd. (Audax). In the unreported oral decision (Teine Energy), Master Farrington dismissed Teine's application for judgment related to Audax's failure to drill under a "Commitment Wells" clause of a farmout agreement. This decision is on par with the growing trend that summary judgment is increasingly unavailable for cases involving oil and gas contracts.

Summary judgment may be granted where there is no genuine issue requiring trial

The current law regarding summary judgment is outlined in the Supreme Court of Canada decision Hryniak v Mauldin. Courts may grant summary judgment where there is no "genuine issue requiring a trial." In a first step, the court should ask whether there is a genuine issue requiring trial solely on the basis of the evidence before the court. If the