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The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has ordered oil and gas firm MAGA Energy Ltd. to suspend its operations over unresolved environmental concerns and non-compliance issues, including unpaid taxes and orphan well cleanup fees.<\/p>\n
The AER announced Thursday that it had issued the order a day earlier. The Calgary-based company has two weeks to shut in its wells and turn off equipment at its facilities, and to discontinue use of active, remaining pipelines, according to the order issued<\/a> by the agency.<\/p>\n MAGA Energy currently holds 581 wells, 108 facilities and 801 pipeline segments, the AER said.<\/p>\n In a news release, the AER said it was taking action \u201cto protect the public and environment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBased on MAGA\u2019s unpaid municipal taxes, AER and Orphan Well Association debt, and failure to meet its commitments, the director assessed that the licensee does not have the capacity to fulfil its regulatory and liability obligations,\u201d the AER said.<\/p>\n The order includes a list of requirements that MAGA must address before it can resume operations. These include addressing remediation issues for multiple sites, resolving outstanding field inspections and spending the minimum, legally required amount of money for cleanup of inactive sites.<\/p>\n In a statement to CBC News on Friday, Sturgeon County said MAGA Energy owes an outstanding balance exceeding $356,000 in property taxes and penalties. The county warned that if the company dissolves, the chances of recovering those funds are uncertain.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is unacceptable for companies to walk away from their tax obligations,\u201d the statement read, adding that municipalities need stronger enforcement tools to ensure property taxes are treated as a priority.<\/p>\n According to the statement, as of Dec. 31, 2025, oil and gas companies owed Sturgeon County more than $6.8 million in unpaid property taxes.<\/p>\n A post on Sturgeon County\u2019s website from 2023 details how county officials said MAGA Energy owed more than $230,000 in tax arrears at that time, dating back to 2021. <\/p>\n In 2023, a ministerial order<\/a>, signed by Alberta\u2019s then-energy minister Peter Guthrie, was meant to prevent the AER from approving the transfer of any more wells or well licences to companies that had municipal tax arrears beyond a certain threshold.\u00a0<\/p>\n In September 2024, the AER approved the transfer<\/a> of 170 wells, 30 facilities and 47 pipeline licences to MAGA Energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mark Dorin owns land in and around Edmonton with wells that were transferred to MAGA Energy over the past few years. He believes the regulator should be acting faster.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got this company that’s not paying their taxes, not paying landowners,\u201d he told CBC News. \u201cThere’s no public benefit whatsoever for those operations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve got our priorities backward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n MAGA Energy had not responded to CBC\u2019s request for comment at the time of publication.\u00a0<\/p>\n Critic says better enforcement needed<\/p>\n In a statement to CBC News, Energy Minister Brian Jean\u2019s office said the order to suspend MAGA Energy operations shows Alberta’s policies and regulations work.<\/p>\n \u201cIf companies do not meet environmental requirements or taxpayer responsibilities, they will be shut down,\u201d the statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Janetta McKenzie, director of the oil and gas program at the Pembina Institute, a non-profit think-tank focused on clean energy, said the order \u201csuggests that perhaps the regulator isn’t holding firm to their responsibilities in a timely manner.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOil and gas firms are given quite a bit of leeway, and given quite a bit of ability to kind of navigate some of these rules,\u201d she told CBC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n A report released last month<\/a> found that about $250 million of unpaid taxes in Alberta over the years may not be able to be recovered from oil and gas companies.<\/p>\n The province charges oil and gas companies an orphan well levy to help fund the Orphan Well Association. The association works to reduce the risk of orphan wells and closes oil and gas sites that don\u2019t have a financially viable owner. But a 2025 report<\/a> warned the annual levy was too low.\u00a0<\/p>\n McKenzie said that needs to change.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see, particularly in the last few years, a lot of orphan wells entering the inventory, but the levy being charged to industries is only going up a little bit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n McKenzie said Albertans will ultimately bear the financial and environmental costs.<\/p>\n \u201cIf [the wells] haven\u2019t been properly suspended, they could be leaking methane or other pollutants into the atmosphere or into water,\u201d she said. \u201cThat could lead to health impacts for people or for livestock that are living in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n