The BC Oil and Gas Commission is a

Crown Corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

of the province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, established in 1998. Its mandate is to regulate oil and gas activities and pipelines in British Columbia. Their mandate does not extend to regulating consumer gas prices at the pump.

Overview

The Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) was created and defined under the 1998 ''Oil and Gas Commission Act'' by and for the Canadian province of

. The OGC is a

crown corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

acting as "an agent of the rovincialgovernment", where the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

is its fiscal agent. It is headed by 3 directors. The commission has approximately 270 employees in seven offices, as of 2019. The deputy minister is a director and the chair of the OGC, and the

Lieutenant Governor in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of ap ...

may appoint 2 directors, for a term not longer than 5 years, one of whom is the commissioner and vice chair of the commission.

Purpose

The OGCs purposes are to (a) regulate

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...

activities in British Columbia in a manner that * "provides for the sound development of the oil and gas sector, by fostering a

healthy environment Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

, a sound

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

and social well being," * " conserves petroleum and natural gas resources," * "ensures safe and efficient practices, and" * "assists owners of petroleum and natural gas resources to participate equitably in the production of shared pools of petroleum and natural gas," (b)" to provide for

effective Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. Etymology The ori ...

and efficient processes for the review of applications for permits, and to ensure that applications that are approved are in the public interest having regard to environmental, economic, and social effects", (c) "to encourage the participation of

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

and aboriginal peoples in processes affecting them", (d) "to participate in planning processes", and (e) "to undertake programs of education and communication in order to advance safe and efficient practices and the other purposes of the commission."

Tools

The OGC issues various authorizations under the ''Oil and Gas Activities Act,'' including a "general development permit" which is "an approval in principle for oil and gas activities and pipelines in an area of British Columbia". The OGC is a single window regulator It handles applications and also checks the compliance and enforces its regulations with penalties for violations. The OGC has offices in seven cities: Fort St. John, Fort Nelson,

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

Dawson Creek Dawson Creek is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The municipality of had a population of 12,978 in 2016. Dawson Creek derives its name from the creek of the same name that runs through the community. The creek was named after ...

, and Prince George.

Compliance and enforcement information

In 2010–11, the OGC "issued 15 penalty tickets with fines of $575 (the maximum allowed for tickets) or less, which included unlawful water withdrawals and failure to promptly report a spill. Court prosecutions included a $20,000 fine for a Water Act stream violation, $10,575 for another stream violation and $250,0000 for a sour gas release. ..The commission would not release the names of the companies convicted". Per the OGC, in 2O12, of "more than 800 deficiencies, 80 resulted in charges, largely under the provincial Water Act for the non-reporting of water volumes and a smaller portion under the provincial Environment Management Act. Another 13 resulted in orders under the provincial Oil and Gas Activities Act, 22 in warnings, 76 in letters requiring action and three in referrals to other agencies". Paul Jeakins, OGC commissioner and CEO, has publicly acknowledged that OGC inspection and enforcement reports are "a bit of a gap".

Lawsuits

In November 2013, Ecojustice, the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

and the

Wilderness Committee The Western Canada Wilderness Committee (often shortened to Wilderness Committee) is a non-profit environmental education organization that aims to protect Canada's wild spaces and species. Paul George, along with Richard Krieger, were the foundin ...

filed a lawsuit against the OGC and

Encana Ovintiv Inc. is a hydrocarbon exploration and production company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Denver, United States. It was founded and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, under its previous name Encana. It was the largest energy c ...

about Encana's water use from lakes and rivers for its

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...

for shale gas, "granted by repeated short-term water permits, a violation of the provincial water act". In 2012, the OGC had granted Encana access to 20.4 million cubic metres of surface water, 7 million of which were for fracking and 54% of that were through short-term approvals. In October 2014 the

Supreme Court of British Columbia Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown-e ...

found no violation and dismissed the case.

Criticism

The agency has been criticized to be "too industry-friendly", to have "vague regulations" and to issue non transparent fracking violation reports. However, the BC OGC does identify companies convicted of fracking violation on their website. The B.C. Ministry of Environment and other B.C. Crown corporations of B.C. like

WorkSafeBC The Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia, operating as WorkSafeBC, is a statutory agency that came into existence in 1917, after the provincial legislature put into force legislation passed in 1902. This legislation is known as the '' ...

have reported company names and details of those penalties for years. BC OGC reports have been available online since 2009.

References

External links

Oil and Gas Commission - official site
{{British Columbia crown corporations Crown corporations of British Columbia Petroleum organizations Petroleum industry Hydraulic fracturing Regulators of Canada Energy regulatory authorities