Premier Danielle Smith Approves Carbon Capture Pore Space Lease Orders in Council

EDMONTON, AB — Premier Danielle Smith and the Alberta Executive Council approved Order in Council OC 224/2026 under the Mines and Minerals Act, granting permanent commercial pore space tenure agreements for three major carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) industrial hubs across the Edmonton Industrial Heartland and Cold Lake.

Accelerating Continental Heavy Industrial Sequestration

The approved Orders in Council grant exclusive subsurface rights to commercial sequestration consortia—including the Pathways Alliance and the Heartland Fortress CCUS project—to inject millions of tonnes of captured carbon dioxide into deep saline aquifer formations 2,000 meters underground. The state pore space leases clear regulatory hurdles for $6 billion in private commercial carbon capture capital investments at fertilizer plants, oil sands upgraders, and blue hydrogen manufacturing complexes.

Premier Smith affirmed that Alberta has the geological capacity and engineering expertise to lead North America in commercial carbon capture and heavy industrial decarbonization.

Alberta Energy Regulator and Industrial Chambers Praise

The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) confirmed that full subterranean seismic monitoring arrays and wellbore integrity standards are mandated for all leaseholders.

Industrial Heartland municipal mayors celebrated the projects for securing billions in local construction investments.

Commercial Injection Timeline

Subsurface injection test well drilling in the Industrial Heartland will commence in late autumn 2026.