Alberta Production Regulations

Updated: June 28, 2011

Refer to the ERCB website for the latest updates

 

Important ERCB Directive Documents

Directive 017 (PDF, 288 pages)

A detailed account of the ERCB’s requirements for measurement, accounting, and reporting for upstream petroleum facilities.

Directive 017 contents:

  1. Standards of accuracy
  2. Calibration and Proving
  3. Proration factors, allocation factors, metering difference
  4. Gas measurement
  5. Site specific deviation from base requirement
  6. Conventional oil measurement
  7. Gas proration batteries
  8. Gas and liquid sampling and analysis
  9. Cross border measurement
  10. Trucked liquid measurement
  11. Acid gas and sulphur measurement
  12. Heavy oil measurement
  13. Condensate and high vapor pressure liquid measurement and reporting
  14. Liquid measurement
  15. Water measurement

Directive 019 (PDF, 30 pages)

How the ERCB deals with noncompliance events, and their enforcement procedures.

Directive 019 Contents:

  1. Scope
  2. Compliance Assurance Principles and Objectives
  3. Compliance Assurance Based on Inherent Risk
  4. Compliance Assurance
  5. Enforcement Appeals
  6. Voluntary Self – Disclosure
  7. Compliance Performance Information

Directive 076 (PDF, 9 pages)

An overview of operator requirements for compliance with EPAP.

Other EPAP Documents from the ERCB

PowerPoint introduction to EPAP (40 slides)
Summaries of EPAP’s main components, purpose, implementation schedule, and benefits for both operators and the ERCB.

 

ERCB Noncompliance “Themes” (Excel spreadsheet)
This Excel file shows the 14 “themes” that EPAP uses for categorizing noncompliance events.

 

ERCB’s Compliance Assurance Risk Assessment Matrix (PDF, 1 page)
This document describes the criteria that the ERCB uses when assessing the risk associated with noncompliance events.

ERCB-Published EPAP Handbooks

EPAP Operator’s handbook (PDF, 83 pages)
A comprehensive document designed for operators regarding all aspects of EPAP. It includes material on how to implement and operate EPAP, how to design and evaluate controls, and much more.

Contents:

  1. Executive Summary (Declaration, Controls, Compliance Assessment)
  2. Introduction (of EPAP and what is in this handbook)
  3. Implementing EPAP
  4. Interpretation and Application of the Directive
  5. Understanding controls
  6. Planning for design of controls
  7. Designing and documenting controls
  8. Operation of controls
  9. Planning the evaluation of controls
  10. Evaluation of controls
  11. Assessing and reporting the results of the evaluation
  12. Maintaining the design of controls
  13. Monitoring and escalation
  14. Accessing the EPAP system
  15. Operating EPAP
  16. Suggestions for continuous improvement
  17. Voluntary self-disclosure
  18. Appendix (examples of control strategies, declarations, and more)

 

EPAP System Operator’s handbook (PDF, 33 pages)
How to use the electronic EPAP system to make annual declarations, including step-by-step instructions and screenshots.

 

 

EPAP Overview

Updated: May 31, 2011
Refer to the ERCB website for the latest updates

 

This will provide a brief description of the main components of EPAP.

What is EPAP?

EPAP is the Enhanced Production Auditing Program that was made effective by the ERCB on January 14th, 2010. It applies to all facilities that are subject to ERCB regulations. Its main requirement is for operators to submit an annual declaration to the ERCB regarding the controls that they have in place at their facilities to ensure compliance with ERCB requirements. The operators must also declare the effectiveness of their controls.

 

The first operator declarations must be completed by December 2011.

 

A more detailed overview of the program can be found in the ERCB’s Directive 076 document from the ERCB website.

The Purpose of EPAP

The ERCB, through production audits, recognized a pattern of consistent and continuing noncompliance in the measurement and reporting of facilities, and instituted EPAP in an attempt to stop this trend.

EPAP’s official purpose is twofold:

  • to increase the level of assurance over compliance with ERCB’s measurement and reporting requirements
  • to increase the level of compliance with the ERCB’s requirements

Through EPAP, the ERCB is looking to reduce its reliance on substantive facility audits, and shift more of the auditing responsibility to the facility operators.

Major Components of EPAP

EPAP can be broken into five major components, as follows:

 

1. Declarations

  • Electronic reports that are submitted to the ERCB about the state of compliance at the operator’s facilities
  • Operators must assert that adequate controls are in place to assure compliance with ERCB requirements, and that the effectiveness of each control is being properly evaluated
  • Submitted as statistical summaries only (no working papers)
  • Must be signed by senior executives

2. Controls and Evaluation of Controls

  • Controls are what the operator uses to minimize the risk of noncompliance
  • Evaluations of Controls are processes that the operator uses to evaluate the effectiveness of the controls

3. Compliance Assessment

  • The process that operators and the Production Audit Team (PAT) use to identify indicators of potential noncompliance
  • The Compliance Assessment Report evaluates every facility based on data anomalies in the Petroleum Registry and the number of Field Inspection findings in the Field Inspection System

4. Action Items

  • Formal PAT direction to the operators to conduct investigations into indicators of potential noncompliance

5. Escalation

  • The process that the PAT uses to direct the operator to provide more information if an investigation and subsequent mitigation fail to correct an indicator of potential noncompliance

 

How to access the EPAP System

Updated: May 31, 2011
Refer to the ERCB website for the latest updates

 

In the ERCB public website, click on Industry Zone in the horizontal menu, and then click on Data Submission and Reporting.

 

This brings up the DDS (Digital Data Submission) main page, which includes a menu on the left-hand side. Click on the Production Audit link available through the menu and then enter your User ID and Password above the menu to access the EPAP system.

 

For detailed information on the EPAP system components, entering data, and other functionalities of the EPAP system, please refer to the EPAP System Operator’s Handbook from the ERCB website