Canada Energy Regulator’s 2025-26 Annual Report of Activities Under the Northwest Territories’ Oil and Gas Operations Act

ISSN 2816-7694

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Designations / Appointments
• Delegations
• Applications and Decisions
• Operating Licences Issued
• CER Regulated Companies in the ISR
• OGOA Compliance Verification Activities
• Incident Response
• Sampling Requests and Requests for Information
• Relationships with Other Regulators

Overview

The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) is pleased to present the 2025-26 Annual Report of activities under the Northwest Territories’ Oil and Gas Operations Act (OGOA). Pursuant to the OGOA, the CER is required to submit an annual report to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment of the Government of the Northwest Territories (NWT).

As part of its duties and responsibilities, the CER regulates oil and gas exploration and production in the onshore portion of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) in the NWT under the OGOA. The Commission of the CER has a key role in making decisions under the OGOA. Established under the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, the Commission is responsible for independent adjudicative decisions. Under the OGOA, the Commission’s primary role is to adjudicate oil and gas exploration and production projects. The Commission is composed of seven full-time Commissioners appointed by the Governor in Council, including the Lead Commissioner and Deputy Lead Commissioner.

Designations / Appointments

Under section 4 of the OGOA, the Chief Executive Officer has the authority to appoint a Chief Safety Officer and a Chief Conservation Officer.

In 2025-26, the following designations were in effect:

• Iain Colquhoun, Professional Leader, Engineer, as Chief Conservation Officer; and Paula Futoransky, Vice-President, Energy Adjudication, and Jess Dunford, Vice-President, Field Operations, as alternates to act in his absence.
• Keith Landra, Professional Leader, Safety, as Chief Safety Officer; and Claudine Bradley, Technical Leader, Research and Innovation, and David Paynter, Group Leader, Safety and Damage Prevention, as alternates to act in his absence.

Delegations

Under section 8 of the OGOA, the Regulator may delegate, at any time, any of its powers, duties, or functions under the OGOA to any person. The Commission did not make any new delegations during the 2025-26 fiscal year. The delegation to the Chief Conservation Officer and alternate(s) of certain powers under the OGOA (including the authority to issue operating licences, authorizations, and well approvals) remained in effect in 2025-26. The following table lists the delegations that have been in place since the original Commission delegation under the OGOA in 2021.

Table of Commission Delegations under the OGOA to the Chief Conservation Officer

Well approvals under the NWT’s Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Regulations are also captured under the original 2021 Commission delegations.

Applications and Decisions

In 2025-26, the CER received one application from MGM Energy for a Mackenzie Delta well abandonment program, which is currently under review.

Operating Licences Issued

The CER, as Regulator under the OGOA, granted seven companies annual operating licences under paragraph 10(1)(a) of the OGOA during 2025-26. A list of all current operating licence holders is posted on the CER website and in Open Government.

Operating licences are administrative documents that do not, on their own, permit any activity. An operating licence must be in place before the CER can make a decision on an authorization for any work or activity under the OGOA. The following table lists the operating licences issued by the CER during 2025-26.

Operating licences issued under the OGOA by the CER (2025-26)

CER Regulated Companies in the ISR

The following table lists oil and gas companies whose activities in the onshore portion of the ISR are regulated by the CER under the OGOA:

CER – Regulated Companies and Facilities Operating in the ISR under the OGOA

OGOA Compliance Verification Activities

Under the OGOA, the CER is responsible for ensuring that oil and gas activities are conducted in a manner that ensures the safety of people, the protection of the environment, and the conservation of oil and gas resources (regulating oil and gas activities to prevent waste and ensure efficient long-term recovery of petroleum resources). Companies must identify, evaluate, and mitigate hazards and risks associated with their operations throughout the lifecycle of facilities. To verify compliance with regulatory requirements, the CER employs a risk-based approach to compliance verification and enforcement. Where operations present a higher potential for harm to persons or the environment, the CER applies enhanced oversight, including engagement, inspections, audits, and enforcement measures, as necessary.

In 2025-26, the CER conducted five compliance verification activities (CVAs) under the OGOA, supporting ongoing regulatory oversight and verification of operational performance.

• UGFI: Two CVAs were conducted in 2025 (two information exchange meetings).

  Utility Group Facilities Inc. (UGFI) submits daily production reports to the CER. Production activities and operational performance are evaluated through CER CVA and are documented in Operations Regulatory Compliance Application (ORCA).

• IESP: Two CVAs were conducted in 2025 (one information exchange meeting and one implementation assessment meeting).

  Inuvialuit Energy Security Project Ltd. continues to submit bi-monthly construction progress reports to the CER for review.

• MGM: One CVA conducted in 2025 (one information exchange meeting).

Incident Response

Companies must be prepared to respond to an emergency. The CER verifies that a company can respond effectively by evaluating emergency response exercises and assessing contingency plans, including emergency response procedures and associated training, and confirming that plans provide for coordination with relevant territorial and federal emergency response plans.

The CER is a signatory to the NWT-Nunavut Spills Working Agreement (Agreement). The Agreement, updated in November 2024, promotes response coordination and continuous improvement of pollution preparedness activities in the NWT and Nunavut. The CER continues to actively engage and contribute to the work of the Spills Working Group, which focuses on supporting and advancing the objectives of the Agreement.

The CER recently renewed its Memorandum of Understanding (February 2026) with the NWT’s Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations (OROGO), which, in part, facilitates coordination on day-to-day matters related to emergency preparedness and response activities in the onshore Northwest Territories.

The CER received three incident reports and four reports of near misses in the ISR during the 2025-26 fiscal year. None of these events were classified by the CER as an emergency, and no field deployments were required. All events were reviewed by Conservation Officers in the Safety and Emergency Management group.

Sampling Requests and Requests for Information

There was one request made by an external party to sample well materials (cuttings, fluid samples and/or core samples) related to pre-existing wells located in the Mackenzie Delta this fiscal year. The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) supervises the removal of samples. Well materials are stored at the GSC core facility in Calgary, Alberta. Researchers, companies, and academics use these historical well materials or samples in various studies and analyses. Copies of reports generated from a study or analysis of well materials are later sent to the CER and can be obtained by the public.

The CER library received and responded to 24 OGOA-related public information requests and 22 requests to access materials in the Frontier Information Office.

Relationships with Other Regulators

The CER recognizes the importance of maintaining strong working relationships with regulators and other partners in the North. CER staff continue to meet regularly with OROGO and with Industry, Tourism and Investment’s Mineral and Petroleum Resources Division to examine opportunities for improving regulatory coordination and efficiency. The CER and the OROGO hold monthly bilateral information exchange meetings to examine opportunities for joint compliance verification and emergency management exercises, as well as to discuss regulatory initiatives such as the development of new regulations and guidance materials under the OGOA. The OROGO and CER have an active Service Agreement and regularly work together on applications and compliance verification activities.

The CER actively participates in various informal and formal meetings related to its regulatory responsibilities in the ISR. For instance, in 2025-26, CER staff attended the annual Government of the NWT’s Petroleum Units meeting. This meeting involves collaboration and information exchange between the OROGO, the CER, and the Government of the NWT’s Geological Survey Department and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Department.

The CER meets quarterly with the Inuvialuit Land Administration to discuss coordination, cooperation and compliance approaches for activities related to the IESP in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

The CER actively participates in the NWT Board Forum, which fosters collaboration and communication among regulators and resource management organizations in the NWT.

CER staff presented at a meeting of the ISR Sump Technical Working Group and by request of this group, worked with the Northwest Territories Geological Survey (NTGS) to make ISR well history files publicly accessible on the NTGS website.

Date modified:

2026-06-15