OIL AND GAS COMMISSION
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   COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
      PHILOSOPHY
The Oil and Gas Commission (OGC), Compliance and Enforcement Philosophy is driven by the OGC’s Vision Statement, Mission Statement and Core Values.

The OGC believes that compliance is the responsibility of the oil and gas industry, and expects that all industry players will understand its requirements, and have an infrastructure in place to ensure compliance. At the same time, the OGC believes that, on occasion, enforcement of the regulations will also be required to ensure compliance.

The OGC is committed to working with industry and the public to ensure that fair, workable, and enforceable regulations are in place.

The following outlines the OGC’s enforcement approach designed to ensure that each company accepts its responsibility for compliance:

Compliance and Enforcement Vision

The OGC believes that enforcement is one part of a total program of effective regulation, designed to achieve an upstream oil and gas industry that understand, respect, and meet or exceed regulations and standards, often through the implementation of self-imposed guidelines.

Compliance and Enforcement Principles

  • All enforcement actions for non-compliance are timely, transparent, effective, and appropriate for the severity of the situation.
  • Any repeated or similar non-compliance results in escalating enforcement consequences.
  • Any non-compliance, which poses immediate and severe threat to workers, the public, or the environment will be dealt with on a timely basis in an effective manner.

Compliance and Enforcement Policy

The following statements are designed to clarify our clients’ understanding of the OGC’s Compliance and Enforcement policy. As a matter of course, in dealing with enforcement situations, the OGC for example:

WILL: Deal firmly with companies when there is an obvious disregard for OGC requirements.
WILL NOT: Allow companies to gain a competitive advantage by waiting for the OGC to identify problems before addressing them.

WILL: Recognize when companies have identified a violation of OGC requirements and have taken appropriate measures to correct such a problem.
WILL NOT: Apply additional consequences when a company is demonstrating that it is employing the proper resources and effort to remedy a problem.

WILL: Take enforcement action to the appropriate seriousness of any violation.
WILL NOT: Employ actions, such as verbal warnings or form letters, for serious violations.

WILL: Consider relevant OGC written warning to companies that have not satisfactorily addressed liabilities and obligations when deciding to approve or deny any applications, or condition approvals.
WILL NOT: Employ limited OGC staff resources in continually identifying and correcting violations at problem facilities.

WILL: Shut down facilities until OGC staff are confident that permanent improvements to the operations are implemented.
WILL NOT: Take the same action twice on the same issue on the same location within a one-year period. Consequences will be escalated.

WILL: Ensure that significant changes to regulations, requirements, and policies are communicated in a complete and timely manner.
WILL NOT: Apply consequences to companies when there has been inadequate notice from the OGC about a change in a regulation or policy.

Compliance and Enforcement Goals

The OGC strives to achieve the following goals in a balanced manner when dealing with non-compliance:

  1. The enforcement process used achieves compliance and lasting improvement in industry operations, without continuous OGC involvement.
  2. The enforcement action is appropriate for the severity of the situation (firm and fair). This ensures that all industry operations are conducted in a responsible manner, resulting in a level playing field.
  3. Industry operators will recognize the enforcement actions taken by the OGC and be motivated to prevent similar events from occurring again.
  4. OGC clients are aware of enforcement actions, and accept that effective actions are taken.
  5. All actions are consistent with comparable situations of similar severity, and they are confidently initiated by OGC staff.
  6. Expectations and enforcement actions are fully communicated to industry in advance, with opportunity for client and stakeholder input.



The Compliance and Enforcement Branch drives to ensure that petroleum resources are developed, maintained, and transported in a safe, efficient, and environmentally sound manner, consistent with statutory requirements.

Inspection and Compliance Operations Manual
Compliance and Enforcement Inspections
Incidents, Complaints, and First Nations concerns
Inspection Extension Guidelines
Compliance and Enforcement Forms
Compliance and Enforcement Frequently Asked Questions
Winter Stream Crossings

The Compliance and Enforcement Branch has offices in the following locations:

HEAD OFFICE:
Fort St. John
200, 10003-110 Avenue
Fort St. John, BC V1J 6M7
 Ph:  (250) 261-5766
Fax: (250) 261-5765
Fort Nelson
RR1 Mile 301, Alaska Highway
Fort Nelson, BC V0C 1R0
 Ph:  (250) 774-5501
Fax: (250) 774-5535
Kamloops
210 – 301 Victoria Street
Kamloops, BC V2C 5Z5 		Ph:  (250) 377-2162
Fax: (250) 377-2150


General Compliance and Enforcement inquiries should be made to:

Front Counter BC/Oil and Gas Commission
200, 10003-110 Avenue
Fort St. John, BC V1J 6M7
Ph:  (250) 261-5700
Fax: (250) 261-2084


More contact information for the Compliance and Enforcement can be found here.