Landowners block oil company from Edmonton site over 3 years of unpaid rents

Some Alberta landowners are taking a stand against oil and gas companies who they say use the land without paying rent.

A group of Edmonton landowners who haven’t been able to collect rent for the last three years from the oil company that leases their land have cancelled their contract and blocked access to the property.

Mark Dorin, who with several others owns land at the Armisie Oil Field in the city’s southwest, told media Thursday morning at the 103-acre parcel of land that they felt they needed to put up the blockade as they’re at a standstill trying to deal with the company, Maga Energy, and the Alberta Energy Regulator, the provincial agency that regulates resource development.

Dorin said they followed proper legal procedures to terminate the lease with Maga Energy and close the property, adding they simply want the province to enforce its laws.

“I’ve reported these issues to the companies. I’ve reported them to the regulator,” Dorin said. I’ve spent hundreds of hours, tens of thousands of dollars on this, and gotten absolutely nowhere."

The regulator told CTV News Edmonton in a statement it cannot comment on individual cases.

However, it says if it “determines a company has failed to comply with a term or condition of a ‘private surface agreement,’ it may issue an order to comply.”

Brian Jean, Alberta’s energy minister, told reporters Thursday at the Alberta legislature that landowners are guaranteed to be paid for surface leases and should apply to the province’s Land and Property Rights Tribunal to ensure they get paid.

CTV News Edmonton has asked Maga Energy for comment but hasn’t yet heard back from the Calgary-based company, whose core wells are in areas around the capital city, including Acheson, Berrymoor, Golden Spike, Morinville, Spruce Grove, St. Albert, Tofield and Westlock.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg