A rural landowners group is attempting to stake claim to the province's burgeoning coal bed methane resource, contending the Alberta government isn't the rightful owner.
Bowden-area rancher Glenn Norman of the United Landowners of Alberta said Tuesday scientific evidence is building on the origins of Alberta's coal bed methane, a type of natural gas found in underground coal seams.For Norman, the studies show much of the methane is renewable, being constantly created by bacteria in a process dubbed biogenic. The provincial government should therefore treat the resource like solar or wind energy, and not collect royalties as if it were akin to conventional natural gas, suggests Norman, 52.
"What difference it would make is who owns it. It would be owned by the landowners," he said.
"The landowner would have the power to say, 'I don't want it. Go away,' if they don't want it produced."
The United Landowners of Alberta are prepared to head to court against the government to win that power, Norman said. It hasn't yet decided which methane project to challenge.
Alberta Energy spokesman Sean Beardow declined to comment on the impact of possible court action.
He said the province views coal bed methane as natural gas, no matter how it's created.
In order to produce natural gas on a landowner's property, companies are required to negotiate access agreements. If a deal can't be reached, a company can still get the green light to drill because the resource is owned by the Crown.
Kevin Heffernan, a vice-president with the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas, said most industry players are likely to take the position that methane is a mineral and doesn't warrant changes to how it's treated or who owns it.
"I am sure the ULA (United Landowners of Alberta) would expect that the owners of the surface rights would be receiving royalties of some sort," Heffernan said.
The United Landowners of Alberta will be taking its message on the road, beginning with a meeting in Taber on Aug. 6. While the landowners will come armed with scientific studies, the science on the origins of methane isn't crystal clear.
A September 2006 study -- completed by the province's energy regulator, Alberta Geological Survey and University of Alberta -- turned up evidence that some of the methane "could have a biogenic source."
However, that was only in the Ardley coal zone. Most of Alberta's methane production has centred on the central Alberta Horseshoe Canyon play, which contains thermogenic gas, said Darin Barter of the provincial Energy Resources Conservation Board.
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