Sour Gas Setbacks.ppt

1、Sour Gas Setbacks,March 20, 2007 Presented by Marilyn Craig,Presentation Overview,About the EUB and Public Safety What is a setback? Where did they come from? Why do we need them? How are they managed in the development of sour gas? How is surface encroachment managed? What are the impacts to the pu

2、blic? What are the issues? What are the plans for review of setbacks?,EUB Public Safety Mandate,To ensure that the discovery, development and delivery of Albertas energy resources and utilities services take place in a manner that is fair, responsible and in the public interest. Public interest: saf

3、e and efficient practices. Vision The EUB will continue to build a regulatory framework that inspires public confidence.,Sour Gas Development in Alberta,Increased demand for energy World-wide Increased interface and conflict between surface and subsurface development Growing population and industry

4、activity Changing stakeholder expectations Two sets of equal rights in Alberta must be balanced Surface rights Mineral rights,Sour Gas Development in Alberta,Sour gas has been safely produced in Alberta for over 50 years About 30% of remaining gas reserves are sour Alberta has the Worlds toughest so

5、ur gas regulations EUB Board commitment to continuously improve regulatory system to increase safety and improve confidence,Key Points,Goal: regulatory system that provides high level of public safety while allowing oil and gas and surface development to continue Prevention of incidents: primary foc

6、us via effective regulatory system and industry practices Incident Response: comprehensive/coordinated emergency preparedness and response protocols Stakeholder confidence: focused proactive outreach programs to provide reliable, credible information Continuous improvement: Industry has excellent sa

7、fety record improvements should lead to greater public confidence.,Public Safety Management System,Emergency planning, preparedness & response Assessment of response capabilities,Surveillance, Compliance and Enforcement,Investigation Follow-up Lessons learned,Reducing likelihood Mitigating consequen

8、ces,Prevention,What is a setback?,The minimum separation distance required between a sour well, pipeline or facility and surface development Types of surface development include permanent dwellings, public facilities, unrestricted country development, urban centres Distances vary according to type o

9、f sour facility and surface development,What is a setback?,Categories of development considered: Permanent dwellings: 8 or less/quarter sec Unrestricted country development: more than 8 dwellings/quarter sec located outside of an urban centre,What is a Setback?,Urban Centre: City, town, hamlet etc w

10、ith not less than 50 separate occupied buildings, or any similar development the EUB may designate Public Facility: a publicly used site such as a hospital, fire hall, or major recreational facility. Each case is examined individually based on # of users, frequency and duration of use, complexity of

11、 evacuation,Where did they come from?,Some form of setback control has existed since the early production days (30s): 100 metre setback from all wells, pipeline-rights-of-way 1974 APIGEC recommended limiting surface development near SG operations due to concerns over level of risk 1978 ERCB adopted

12、new dispersion model to determine H2S hazard area,Where did they come from?,Dispersion model and population density assumptions used to determine risk and minimum SG setback distances 1979 Provincial land-use planning legislation adopted mirror legislation restricting encroachment of surface develop

13、ment on SG operations,Why do we need them?,Reduces the risk of public impact if SG incident occurs Prevent encroachment of SG facilities to unsafe distances from people Prevent encroachment of surface development to unsafe distances from SG facilities Key component of public safety management system

14、,Why do we need them?,Analogy: Reduced speed to 30 km/h in Playground or School Zones Provides additional safety as drivers can stop quickly at lower speed if a child ran into the street Safety not guaranteed but risk is reduced,How are setbacks managed in the development of sour gas?,Oil and Gas Co

15、nservation Regulation Section 2.110 requires minimum 100 metre setback for ALL wells from surface improvement, 40 metres from surveyed roadway ID 81-3 sets out minimum setback requirements for sour pipelines ID 97-6 sets out minimum setback requirements for sour wells Directive 56, Facility Applicat

16、ions process ensures that minimum distances are adhered to.,How is surface encroachment managed?,Section 10(1) states: “A subdivision authority must send a copy of a subdivision application and a development authority must send a copy of a development application the results in a permanent additiona

17、l overnight accomodation or public facilityto the AEUB if any of the landis within 1.5 kilometres of a sour gas facility”,How is surface encroachment managed?,Section 10 (2) states: “the AEUB must provide the subdivision authority and the development authority with its comments on the The AEUBs clas

18、sification of the sour gas facility Minimum development setbacks necessary for the classification of the sour gas facility,How is surface encroachment managed?,Provincial Subdivision and Development Regulation Section 10(3) pursuant to Municipal Government Act states that “A subdivision authority an

19、d development authority shall not approve an application that does not conform to the AEUBs setbacks unless the AEUB gives written approaval to a lesser setback distance.”,What are the impacts of setbacks on the public?,Prevent unsafe encroachment Restrict ability of a landowner to site certain type

20、s of surface development and/or industry to develop certain types of oil and gas facilities Affects on surface rights without adequate compensation (fairness),What are the outstanding issues?,Are the current setback distances still appropriate as they contribute to the overall public safety manageme

21、nt system If not, what are the implications on the public and industry of changing the distances Some believe distances are too large, others feel they are too small Should the landowner and/or the industry be compensated for loss of ability to use land or develop resource,What are the outstanding i

22、ssues?,Are there better ways to coordinate surface and subsurface development to reduce conflict Can we improve availability of information, understanding and communication How can we keep up with changing stakeholder expectations,What are the plans to review setbacks?,Detailed re-examination of setbacks planned Two phase process Phase 1 Review original purpose and criteria of existing setback distances validate Preliminar