Program Description

The Alberta Upstream Petroleum Research Fund (AUPRF) is a unique collaborative platform between the Government of Alberta , the Alberta Energy Regulator, and industry, and is led by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (EPAC), and managed by PTAC. AUPRF was launched with the idea that through innovation and collaborative R&D, we can minimize the environmental impact of our industry economically.

Since inception, 432 applied research projects have been completed through the AUPRF program. Each project launched provides practical science based studies to address knowledge gaps in the understanding and management of high priority environmental and social matters related to oil and gas exploration and development in Alberta, and assists in the development of smart policies, regulations and best practices for the sustainable development of Alberta’s world class hydrocarbon resources. The program has resulted in significant contributions in the areas of cost reduction, ease of operations, social license, regulatory impact on risk influenced by science based choice, fast tracking development activities, avoiding unnecessary cost/adversarial hearings, and helping the regulator understand the environmental impact of hydrocarbon development.

In addition, the AUPRF program has proven against the conventional wisdom of economics that there is a trade-off between social and economic performance. Business can indeed make profit while solving social and environmental problems.

News

PTAC Knowledge Transfer Session: New Draft Wellsite Certification Guidance Documents for Sites in the Boreal Forest

Since 2018, InnoTech Alberta, Vertex Resource Group Ltd., Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, and Enviro Q&A Services have been working on a PTAC-sponsored project to provide recommendations for an acceptable policy framework and decision support tool(s) for certification of boreal wellsites constructed using imported mineral soil pads in peatlands, and upland (forest) sites that have natural vegetation encroachment. The goal of the project is to assist industry and regulators in making decisions around appropriate management and certification of these sites to ensure (a) functioning ecosystems are developing, and (b) that there is a process that supports reclamation certification.

On June 7, the Dean MacKenzie and Bonnie Drozdowski presented the work done on this project to date.

Watch the recording