About Us: Enhanced Production Audit Program (EPAP)
The ERCB regulates the safe, responsible, and efficient development of Alberta’s energy resources, including oil, natural gas, oil sands, coal, and pipelines.

Enhanced Production Audit Program (EPAP)

What's New

November 7, 2012

The following spreadsheet has been created to clarify Facility Subtype applicability to the reporting Themes associated with an EPAP Declaration.

The intent of this document is to provide guidance during the completion of a Declaration; however, Industry is cautioned to be aware that site-specific issues may dictate the reporting for certain facilities.

Questions or concerns may be directed to members of the Production Audit Team.

October 10, 2012 – Message to Industry regarding the Enhanced Production Audit Program (EPAP) – RSAM System ability to accept 2012 Declaration Submissions

The EPAP System currently has the ability to accept Operator 2012 Declaration Submissions. Those Operators with Declaration months of January through August inclusive will be given until November 30, 2012 to complete the 2012 Declaration submission. For all other Operators, Declarations will be due by the end of the second month following the end of the Declaration period.

In addition, EPAP System functionality changes have been made to the Declaration submission process. Step-by-step instructions on how to submit your 2012 Declaration can be found below.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience in regard to the delay in the submission of the 2012 Declarations.

Any questions regarding this matter are to be directed to your assigned Production Audit Team member.

EPAP System Taken Offline - September 14, 2012

The EPAP System has been taken offline for unscheduled maintenance.

At this point it is uncertain as to when the System will be brought back online. An email will be sent out to all Primary Contacts, along with an announcement placed on the Production Audit section of DDS and the EPAP Section of the ERCB Website when the System becomes available.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thank you.

July 9, 2012 – Message to Industry regarding the Enhanced Production Audit Program (EPAP) – System Functionality Release May 2012 (Updated: August 14, 2012)

The following functionality was included in the May 2012 update to the EPAP system.

ERCB Directive 076 Modifications

Directive 076: Operator Declaration Regarding Measurement and Reporting Requirements came into effect on January 4, 2010. Requirement 2 in Section 2 (Declaration Regarding ERCB Measurement and Reporting Requirements) states: “An operator’s declaration must cover the 12 calendar months ending in the operator’s declaration month and must be received by the end of the month following the declaration month.”

In order to obtain more accurate operator facility counts for the declaration period on the declaration appendices, the ERCB has determined that the declaration submission timing must be revised such that Industry operators submit their declarations no earlier than the first day of the second month following the declaration month and no later than the last day of the second month following the declaration month. This revision to the declaration submission timing requirement will better align with the time frame in which operators must inform the Petroleum Registry of Alberta of facility ownership changes.

As a result, beginning with the 2012 declaration submission year, operators are advised that declarations must be submitted to the ERCB no earlier than the first day of the second month following the declaration month and no later than the last day of the second month following the declaration month. Directive 076 is currently being revised to reflect this new declaration submission timing requirement.

PLEASE NOTE: THE EPAP SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY UNABLE TO ACCEPT 2012 DECLARATIONS. OPERATORS WILL BE INFORMED WHEN THE ABILITY TO SUBMIT DECLARATIONS IS AVAILABLE.

Compliance Assessment Indicator Categories

The compliance assessment indicator category of “Concern” has been replaced with “Conditional.” The list of compliance assessment indicator categories has been revised as of June 2012.

Communication within the EPAP System

Action Items/Notifications

The Production Audit Team (PAT) now has the ability to communicate with operators using the Action Item functionality within the EPAP System. An action item is a formal request from the PAT to an operator to provide additional information or to investigate a specific issue.

The assigned PAT member may initiate one of the following:

  • BA Level Action Item: used to discuss company-level issues. When requesting information from an operator, the assigned PAT member will create a BA action item in the EPAP System. The operator’s primary contact will receive a BA action item notification via e-mail.
  • CAI Level Action Item: used to discuss facility-specific issues. When investigating a CAI flagged at a facility, the assigned PAT member will create a CAI action item. The operator’s primary contact will receive a CAI action item notification via e-mail.

The operator’s designated primary contact will receive a notification email from the EPAP system indicating the PAT member has created an action item within the EPAP system and confirming the operator’s action item submission response in the EPAP system.

To submit a response to an action item, an operator must log onto the EPAP system and input the appropriate details. Step-by-step instructions on how to respond via the EPAP system can be found below.

Changes to the Workflow State of a Compliance Assessment Indicator (CAI)

PAT members now have the ability to change the workflow state of a CAI. For instances where a facility is being flagged with a specific CAI, the state of the CAI can be modified if, after operator investigation, it is determined that normal operating conditions of the facility are triggering the CAI. An explanation in support of the operator’s findings can be provided to the assigned PAT member.

The Operator’s Primary Contact would be required to verbally request a change in workflow state to the assigned PAT Member. The PAT Member will then create an Action Item within the EPAP System and the Operator will be able to provide all the details of the workflow state change request including all supporting documentation. Upon review and acceptance of the request, the PAT Member would change the CAI state from “Valid” to “No Action Required- Acceptable Response”. Although the CAI would continue to be flagged on a monthly basis, it would no longer be considered an issue by the PAT Member.

Due to staffing limitations and workload THE ENTIRE CHANGE PROCESS COULD BE EXTENSIVE. In the interim it is recommended that the state of the CAIs in question be handled by operators, as has been done in the past.

For detailed instructions on what is required to change the state of a CAI please see below:

Voluntary Self Disclosure (VSD) Submissions

If an operator identifies an ERCB measurement-and-reporting noncompliance event at a facility, the operator can submit the remediation (Work Plan) and resolution (Evidence) details through the use of the VSD function within the EPAP system.

Once the VSD Work Plan and Evidence are accepted by the assigned PAT member, further ERCB enforcement action for the identified noncompliance would not occur. However, if a request for investigation regarding a particular ERCB measurement and reporting noncompliance has been initiated by the PAT member, a VSD submission is no longer an option. If you require additional details on the requirements of a VSD, please refer to Directive 019: Compliance Assurance.

To submit a VSD, an operator must log onto the EPAP system and input the appropriate details. Step-by-step instructions on how to submit and respond to a VSD via the EPAP system can be found below:

April 2, 2012 – Message to industry regarding the Enhanced Production Audit Program (EPAP) – Related BAIDs

During the 2011 declaration submission year, industry operators were given the option to submit a single declaration that covered facilities operated by multiple Business Associate Identifiers (BAIDs). The ERCB has determined that limitations in the RSAM computer system will no longer allow this declaration option to be offered.

Therefore, beginning with the 2012 declaration submission year and extending to subsequent years, operators with multiple BAIDs will be required to submit a separate declaration for facilities for each BAID for which they report volumetric data to the Petroleum Registry of Alberta. The option for relating BAIDs is no longer available to industry operators.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to affected operators. If you have any concerns or require further information regarding this matter please contact Colby Ruff, Production Operations Section Leader, at 403-297-4544 or by e-mail at colby.ruff@ercb.ca.

April 2, 2012 – Message to Industry regarding the Enhanced Production Audit Program (EPAP) – RSAM system ability to accept 2012 Declaration Submissions

Due to current RSAM system limitations, 2012 EPAP declarations cannot be accepted at this time. Operator designated primary contacts will receive an e-mail notification when the 2012 declarations can be submitted, and an announcement will be placed on the EPAP section of the ERCB website.

While the ERCB continues its work on the development of the EPAP system, it is recommended that industry continue to focus its efforts on 2012 EPAP activities that are not dependent upon the EPAP software system.

For those operators affected by this situation, thank you for your understanding and cooperation respecting the delay in the completion and submission of your 2012 declaration. If you have any questions or require further information regarding this matter please contact your production audit team member.

April 2, 2012 – Message to Industry regarding the Enhanced Production Audit Program (EPAP) – 2012 Declaration Submission Timing

ERCB Directive 076: Operator Declaration Regarding Measurement and Reporting Requirements came into effect on January 4, 2010. Requirement # 2 in Section 2 (Declaration Regarding ERCB Measurement and Reporting Requirements) states: “An operator’s declaration must cover the 12 calendar months ending in the operator’s declaration month and must be received by the end of the month following the declaration month”.

In order to obtain more accurate operator facility counts for the declaration period on the declaration appendices, the ERCB has determined that the declaration submission timing must be revised such that industry operators submit their declarations no earlier than the first day of the second month following the declaration month and no later than the last day of the second month following the declaration month. This revision to the declaration submission timing requirement will better align with the time frame in which operators must inform the Petroleum Registry of Alberta of facility ownership changes.

As a result, beginning with the 2012 declaration submission year, operators are advised that declarations must be submitted to the ERCB no earlier than the first day of the second month following the declaration month and no later than the last day of the second month following the declaration month. Directive 076 is currently being revised to reflect this new declaration submission timing requirement.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation respecting the change in declaration submission timing. If you have any questions or require further information regarding this matter please contact your production audit team member.

January 23, 2012 – EPAP System Access Restored

Technical Issues have been resolved between the EPAP system and the Digital Data Submission (DDS) system.

Access to the EPAP system has been restored.

Thank you for your patience.

January 23, 2012 – EPAP System Currently Unavailable

The Enhanced Production Audit Program (EPAP) system and the Digital Data Submission (DDS) system are currently experiencing technical difficulties. The ERCB IT Department is working to resolve this issue.

An announcement will be issued when the access is available.

Thank you for your patience.

January 5, 2012 – EPAP Compliance Assessment Indicator – Questionable Fuel Volume – Facility

The Production Audit Team (PAT) has had multiple queries regarding the logic used for the Compliance Assessment Indicator (CAI) Questionable Fuel Volume – Facility.

The intent of CAI is to identify instances when the volume of gas reported as fuel deviated by more than +/- 50 % from the fuel usage volume expected for various facility subtypes. Possible action(s) to be considered/taken by an operator who has this CAI appearing on their monthly Compliance Assessment Report (CAR) is to confirm the accuracy of the reported fuel gas volumes.

In consultation with the ERCB measurement specialist, the PAT developed the Questionable Fuel Volume – Facility CAI using two base assumptions:

  • what typical equipment we might expect to see at a specific facility sub-type and
  • the amount of fuel each piece of equipment may use per manufacture specifications.
Based on those assumptions, a formula was developed for the each facility subtype. The CAI will not be triggered unless the reported Fuel Volume is +/- 50% of the calculated fuel usage estimate.

Please see the Questionable Fuel Volume – Facility spreadsheet for specific logic details.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact your PAT member directly or epapsupport@ercb.ca.

January 5, 2012 – Production Audit Team Communications with Operator designated Primary Contacts

The Production Audit Team (PAT) would like to remind operators, as per the July 22, 2011 announcement, effective January 1, 2012, all communication with the assigned PAT member must be made through the primary contact designated by each operator.

Please ensure only one primary contact has been identified within the EPAP system. The EPAP system will not acknowledge multiple primary contact designations.

For additional details please see the July 22, 2011 announcement.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact your PAT member directly or epapsupport@ercb.ca.