LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – An oil company says it is putting off its application to the Alberta Energy regulator to drill three exploratory wells in a southern Alberta city.
GoldenKey Oil says it is waiting for the Alberta government to release its new policy on urban drilling before it applies for approval to drill the wells in west Lethbridge.
The company has applied for an extension on its mineral rights lease, which expired on Monday.
Lethbridge West MLA Greg Weadick was recently named to the province’s urban drilling task force and will be working to put a policy together.
Last week, a group delivered petitions to the Alberta legislature with more than 11,000 signatures from Lethbridge residents calling on the province to prohibit oil and gas drilling within the city.
In February, Alberta New Democrats urged the province to ban all drilling in urban areas.
The proposed GoldenKey wells are classified as sour wells, as they would be drilled through a sour geological formation, but would produce from a non-sour zone.
(CJOC, The Canadian Press)