3 min. readEnoch Cree Nation is demanding an independent investigation into the Alberta Energy Regulator for the way it handled a series of decisions related to beleaguered oil and gas company MAGA Energy, which the nation says left it with millions in cleanup costs and millions more in unpaid taxes, royalties and leases.
In a letter shared with The Narwhal, dated Oct. 26 and addressed to Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean and Alberta Energy Regulator CEO Rob Morgan, Chief Cody Thomas says the nation has been left with tens of millions of dollars in liabilities on its traditional territory.
“We would estimate that this could be the largest energy related impact/expense facing any landowner in Alberta history,” he wrote.
Those liabilities include sour gas and oil wells, pump jacks, pipelines, contamination from spills and more, according to the letter.
The nation says it was forced to pay for reclamation on affected land in order to move forward with developments, including housing, and that neither the minister’s office nor the regulator has responded to its concerns.
“All of these liabilities can be traced back to Alberta Energy Regulator decisions that approved transactions relating to MAGA Energy and which now leave Enoch in a position whereby we will almost certainly be unable to recover the costs we continue to incur,” Thomas wrote. “We expect there are numerous other Albertans that will be in the same position.”
Neither the regulator nor the minister’s office immediately responded to questions from The Narwhal.
The First Nation wants the investigation to focus on the “full history of every transaction that has left Enoch in this position.” Those date back to 2016 when, Thomas writes, the regulator approved the transfer of “up to $100 million in liabilities from Penn West to Cedar Creek, which is now MAGA Energy.”
“Our review of various public records indicates that the [regulator] initially rejected the transfer because of concerns about Cedar Creek’s financial position.”
The letter says Enoch Cree Nation is demanding the investigation not only for itself, but “all First Nations in Alberta, our neighbouring ranchers and farmers, and all the Albertans who will now bear the costs arising from these Alberta Energy Regulator decisions.”
MAGA Energy has been the focus of considerable frustration from landowners and municipalities in Alberta. The company owes millions in taxes and leases and has failed to meet its regulatory commitments, including for well cleanup and closure.
Those frustrations have also been directed at the regulator and its oversight of companies such as MAGA, which was allowed to acquire hundreds of new licences in 2024 despite being in financial “survival mode.”
In September, 18 months after that transfer was approved, the company was ordered to cease operations by the Alberta Energy Regulator.
First Nations do not control which companies operate on their territories, as companies sign deals with Indian Oil and Gas Canada, a federal agency.
The wells, pipelines and facilities MAGA left behind have been sitting without an owner for approximately two years, according to the nation.
For the Enoch Cree Nation, the problems started a decade ago, but the nation also points to the 2024 transfer that impacted more landowners as further indication the regulator failed in its duties.
Thomas says the nation is now in the position where its only recourse is seeking money from an “undercapitalized company that will never be able to cover the costs of the liabilities it is now responsible for.”
“These transactions were approved after the [regulator] knew of the undercapitalization and initially blocked the transfer,” Thomas writes. “It is difficult to see how the Alberta Energy Regulator could have approved the subsequent transactions that have directly led to the current state of affairs.”