Alberta gas plant operator fined $80K for refusing regulatory inspection in 2018

CALGARY — The Alberta Energy Regulator says Land Petroleum International Inc. has been ordered to pay an $80,000 fine for failing to allow AER staff access to a natural gas processing plant to inspect it in August 2018.

It says the Calgary-based company was found guilty in provincial court of one charge under the Oil and Gas Conservation Act.

The provincial regulator laid eight charges last year against the company and president Bill Fung after inspectors were refused entry to the facility near Ponoka in central Alberta to inspect it.

The AER says charges against Fung were withdrawn by the court after he agreed to enter a common law peace bond, a court order that requires he comply with all AER requirements for three years.

According to the written court decision, after several attempts, inspectors were able to access the site and conduct a 90-minute inspection that found 22 “non-compliances.”

The AER says the facility has since been sold and licensed to a different operator and is currently operating within AER requirements.