British Columbia has been a leader in safe, responsible natural gas development for more than 50 years and has instituted stringent safety procedures for natural gas development. With some of the most modern regulations in Canada, B.C. is one of the most up-to-date regulators in the world for shale gas development.

British Columbia’s regulations start with the Oil and Gas Activities Act, which was released in 2010. These regulations are responsive to unconventional development and modern industry practices, such as hydraulic fracturing. Key points include strict cementing and casing requirements that ensure hydraulic fracturing fluid is completely isolated from potable water sources.

The BC Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) is the provincial regulator with responsibilities for overseeing oil and gas operations in British Columbia, including exploration, development, pipeline transportation and reclamation.

Facts:

• B.C. regulations and legislation involving the handling of hydraulic fracturing fluids are focused on the care before, during and after a fracture operation has taken place.
• British Columbia was the first province in Canada to regulate the mandatory disclosure of ingredients used in the hydraulic fracturing process used to extract natural gas. The online registry, found at FracFocus.ca, provides a transparent accounting of each well drilled.
• There has never been a reported incident of groundwater contamination as a result of hydraulic fracturing within British Columbia.
• The normal depth of a potable water well for domestic purposes in northeast B.C. is between 18 and 150 metres. The depth of a typical oil and gas producing zone occurs as deep as 3,500 m below surface. There are also numerous, naturally impermeable, ductile confining layers between any potable water zone and the producing hydrocarbon zone – a geological reality which provides pre-existing protection from fluid migration. In other areas of North America, the production zone can be found at depths as low as 180 to 300 metres underground.
• The OGC has almost two decades of experience regulating all aspects of oil and gas activity. They have the experts – including geologists, hydrologists, engineers and environmental specialists – and are leaders in understanding and regulating the technology and practices used by industry for shale gas activities today, including hydraulic fracturing.
• Water use is extensively monitored, and the analysis shows there is adequate water available to meet the need. Industry uses less than one quarter of one per cent of the annual run off from river basins in northeast B.C. – the amount of water that flows through rivers and lakes every year – for oil and gas use under short-term permits. Companies are legally required to report water use data.
• The BC Oil and Gas Commission has the authority to suspend water permits for oil and gas use during times of low stream flow. This ensures adequate water resources for communities and the environment.
• The BC Oil and Gas Commission has worked to limit methane emissions from natural gas exploration. Methane emissions are currently lower in B.C. than many jurisdictions as the province requires natural gas to be conserved where possible instead of flared and vented, which limits the amout of methane emitted.
• Operators in B.C. are also required to have fugitive emission management plans. Monitoring and controlling leakage is part of the fugitive emissions management.
• In 2016, the new B.C. Climate Leadership Plan was released. Further reductions of methane releases from the natural gas sector is one of the key actions that will involve:
  • New progressive regulatory standards.
  • A Clean Infrastructure Royalty Credit Program.
  • An Oil and Gas Offset Program.

These actions are expected to reduce methane emissions by 45 per cent for the oil and gas sector by 2025, estimated at an annual reduction of 1 million tonnes.

• B.C. has a flaring, incinerating and venting guideline that aims to reduce emissions, ensures flaring is conducted in a safe manner and permits venting only when conservation or combustion of natural gas is not feasible. There has been a 26 per cent decrease in annual flared gas volumes since 1996.