Alberta oil well report updated after concerns over taxpayer backstop recommendation

A new version of a government-commissioned report about Alberta’s inactive oil wells and what to do about them now says the province should manage a new insurance fund, rather than backstop it with taxpayer funding.The tweaked language is one of a few changes made to the report, a draft version of which was leaked to media last month leading critics to warn Alberta’s government was being pushed to let oil and gas companies off the hook for reclaiming wells, as is legally required.The report, authored by David Yager, a former oilfield services executive and current Alberta Energy Regulator board member, contains over 20 recommendations for dealing with the nearly 80,000 inactive but not reclaimed oil and gas wells littered across the province.