The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is a regulatory body that’s responsible for overseeing oil, oil sands, natural gas, and coral project lifecycles. Their mandate is to provide safe, orderly and efficient development of energy resources across the province of Alberta.
A few years ago, the AER took on the additional task of regulating reclamation and remediation activities for all of Alberta’s energy resource operations, which was previously managed by the Alberta government ministry, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP).
Taking on this responsibility came with a backlog of nearly 2,700 upstream oil and gas reclamation certificate applications. The backlog was caused due to a very complex process that required each application to be checked against seven different databases – ultimately leading to a significant amount of manual analysis.
The AER collaborated with the Geocortex Professional Services team to put together a system called OneStop, a program that ensures all criteria for reclamation are properly vetted in a timely fashion by introducing two review levels (one of which is automated) and freeing the AER of resources which could then be allocated towards more high-risk areas.
As soon as OneStop was launched, roughly 80% of the backlog was processed instantly. By utilizing Geocortex Essentials, AER staff were able to extend their ArcGIS functionality with customizable workflows, tools and features, and configurability with other systems, leading to a massive reduction in production time. Additionally, Geocortex Essentials also enabled the AER to integrate with existing enterprise systems quickly and intuitively.
This process has not only allowed the AER to streamline their processes and improve on transparency, but it also led to them receiving an Esri Canada Award of Excellence for leveraging GIS technology to serve a vital part of Alberta’s economy more efficiently.
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