OIL & GAS CO's NOT HONOURING LEASES IN AB

  A group of Alberta landowners is asking farmers and ranchers to fight back against unpaid debts and unreclaimed oil and gas wells by closing valves and cutting power to energy company sites.
   “The landowners need to safely shut down those surface leases, whether it’s safely turning off the power or safely shutting off the valve,” Daryl Bennett of the Action Surface Rights Association said Thursday.
   “They need to let these companies know that they’ve defaulted on the leases and there are consequences.”
   Most of Alberta’s roughly 400,000 wells are on private property. Provincial law forbids owners to deny access to energy companies and the industry is required to pay compensation. The deals are regulated by the Alberta Surface Rights Board.