Oil and gas sector veteran Rob Morgan, the former chief executive of Canada’s fifth-largest oil producer, is taking over as head of the Alberta Energy Regulator.
Mr. Morgan retired from Strathcona Resources Ltd. SCR-T in October after seven years at the helm. During that time he oversaw Strathcona’s transformation from a junior oil company into a major player, increasing production from roughly 17,000 barrels per day to approximately 187,000 bpd.
Mr. Morgan takes over as CEO of the AER, which is responsible for assessing and approving energy development in the province, on Feb. 18. “I’ve spent four decades developing the resource, and I’m excited about the opportunity to contribute.”
Duncan Au, board chair of the AER, said Mr. Morgan brings an important skill set to the regulator with his four decades of work in the sector as a petroleum engineer and corporate executive, along with a strong perspective on the current issues facing both the oil and gas industry and the watchdog.
Mr. Au said the AER will play a key role in Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s aspiration to double oil and gas production in the province.
The appointment of an oil and gas executive, however, will likely do little to placate critics who believe that the AER puts the interests of the energy sector above those of Albertans and the environment.
A 2023 report penned by three University of Calgary academics, for example, concluded that flawed end-of-life rules that govern the cleanup of inactive oil and gas wells were partly the result of undue industry influence on the AER.
Researchers Drew Yewchuk, Shaun Fluker and Martin Olszynski wrote that Alberta’s approach has been predominantly if not exclusively oriented toward “minimizing the sector’s economic costs in order to promote continued investment, at the expense of reducing the risk to the environment and endangering the polluter-pays principle.”
Mr. Au said the regulator is committed to making sure that licensees are responsibly developing Alberta’s natural resources.
“To have somebody of Rob Morgan’s stature in terms of having spent his entire career – 40-plus years – in the industry, is somebody that we need running the helm of the AER," Mr. Au told media on Wednesday.
Mr. Morgan doesn’t yet have specific plans for how to deal with Alberta’s growing oil and gas liabilities or rebuilding fraught relationships with some Indigenous communities, saying he will first speak with staff and stakeholders to get a feel for next steps.
But he said he will take cues from the report produced by the Premier’s Advisory Council on Alberta’s Energy Future. The five-member panel appointed by Ms. Smith was tasked with developing a long-term vision for the province’s energy, including how to modernize the AER.
Prior to his work at Strathcona, Mr. Morgan was chief operating officer for Crew Energy. He has worked at various other oil and gas companies, including Harvest Operations Corp. and the Viking Energy Royalty Trust. He began his career as a field production engineer with Murphy Oil in 1985.
He takes over from Laurie Pushor, who announced his retirement in August. Mr. Pushor, a former Saskatchewan deputy minister of energy and resources, took the helm of the regulator in April, 2020. His appointment followed months of upheaval and layoffs at the agency, after three investigations concluded that former CEO Jim Ellis and his top lieutenants had tried to carve out a lucrative new business for themselves when they started a side project to provide regulatory training to other jurisdictions.