In-Progress Academic Research

Work Submitted or Under Revision

“No end in sight: End-of-life management of oil wells in Alberta" (with Gregory Galay).  Revise and resubmit, Resource and Energy Economics.

• We use a real options model to value individual oil wells and identify decision thresholds for reactivating inactive wells. We find a fixed limit on the length of time a well can be decommissioned before it needs to reclaimed would reduce the inventory of decommissioned wells and increase the rate of reclamation, but would come at a significant cost to firms including the direct cost of cleaning up decommissioned oil wells sites and the indirect cost of reducing the current value of active oil wells.

"A review of methane emissions source types and characteristics, rates, and mitigation across U.S. and Canadian cities" (with Coleman Vollrath, Zhenyu Xing, Chris Hugenholtz, and Thomas Barchyn). Submitted.

• We review peer-reviewed journal articles on methane emissions from U.S. and Canadian cities to consolidate the current state of knowledge and highlight key research priorities.

Working Papers

"Comprehensive Assessment of Regulatory Programs: Lessons from a Rapid Review" (with Akash Asif)

• We provide a knowledge synthesis of best practices in assessing regulation and regulatory programs. We review the extant literature on how to assess regulatory programs in a horizontal and comprehensive manner that is relevant for government regulatory reviews. We describe relevant conceptual frameworks and policy design principles identified in academic and policy literatures on the topic of effective regulatory governance, as these form the basis of reviews of the quality and effectiveness of regulatory systems.

Ongoing Research Projects (drafts available on request)

"EITE Definitions and Policy Coverage" (with Sarah Dobson)

• Compares the policy coverage - sectors of the Canadian economy supported by the policy - from the different emissions intensive and trade exposed definitions used by Alberta, the EU and California.

"Making Trade Work for Climate" (with Katharina Koch and Alaz Munzur). Invited chapter in The Palgrave Handbook of the Geopolitics of Energy Cooperation (book proposal under review).

• We explore how to make trade policy work for climate without exclusionary effects, particularly for developing countries which are often marginalized in policies related to reducing GHG emissions.

"Transatlantic Cooperation in Reducing Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas: Potential Solutions to Monitoring, Measurement, Reporting and Verification Challenges" (with Tetiana Semeniutina). Invited chapter in The Palgrave Handbook of the Geopolitics of Energy Cooperation (book proposal under review).

• We explore initial steps under the Global Methane Pledge to promote transatlantic cooperation on methane reduction from oil and gas. We compare the design of oil and gas methane policies in the European Union, the United States and Canada, with a specific focus on regulatory coverage, policy stringency and monitoring, measurement, reporting, and verification challenges. We outline regulatory gaps and identify potential solutions. 

"Oil and Gas Methane Regulation: Gaps and Opportunities for Improvement" (with Tetiana Semeniutina)

• We  compare and contrast provincial, territorial and federal oil and gas methane regulations, focusing on emissions coverage and potential gaps.

"History of Energy Taxes in Canada"

• Explores the evolution of federal and provincial taxes on energy: transportation fuels, heating fuels, and electricity.

“Measuring Energy Poverty in Canada” (with Felix Fosu and Blake Shaffer)

• We explore the different measures of energy poverty, the types of households these measures identify and their sensitivity to variable definition.

"Measuring the Contribution of Energy Infrastructure: A Practical Guide" (with Trevor Tombe)

• Co-edited book that will propose and explore methods and metrics for measuring the social, environmental, and economic consequences of new energy infrastructure for Canada, its provinces, and its people. The book will inform policymakers and regulators in Canada, enabling them to better understand how to evaluate the costs and benefits of energy infrastructure.

"North American Oil Markets and Opportunities for Canadian Crude" (with Sefik Bagdadioglu, Sarah Dobson, G. Kent Fellows, Sean Keown and Sophie Lorefice)

• Describes recent trends in North American crude oil markets, including the determinants of price differentials for Canadian heavy crude. Explores alternative export markets for Canadian crude oil.

"Getting to Know Models: A primer and critique on Input-Output and Computable General Equilibrium Models and their uses for policy and project analysis" (with G. Kent Fellows)

• Chapter in Measuring the Contribution of Energy Infrastructure: A Practical Guide, Jennifer Winter & Trevor Tombe, eds. We compare the underlying assumptions and results from input-output analysis and computable general equilibrium models. The measured economic impacts depends heavily on the underlying assumptions for both approaches.

"A Multiple-Account Approach to Benefit-Cost Analysis” (with Marvin Shaffer and Blake Shaffer) 

• Chapter in Measuring the Contribution of Energy Infrastructure: A Practical Guide, Jennifer Winter and Trevor Tombe, eds. There are significant limitations and challenges to the use of benefit-cost analysis. However, the alternatives commonly used in project and policy assessment, including the application of norms and multi-criteria analysis, have significant problems in their own right and do not substitute for what benefit-cost analyses can provide. The limitations and challenges to benefit-cost analysis do not mean it should be abandoned; however, its role and manner of application require more careful consideration. We outline a multiple account approach to benefit-cost analysis. A multiple-account approach recognizes that the role of benefit-cost analysis is to inform, not necessarily resolve public policy debates, and that can best be done in a disaggregated multiple account framework, not the pursuit of a monetized bottom line.

"Hydraulic Fracturing and Public Policy" (with Sarah Dobson and Sophie Lorefice)

• We review how political and public sentiment towards hydraulic fracturing has affected its regulation and governance.

"Meaningful Engagement of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Marine Activities" (with Brendan Boyd and Jessie Arthur)

• We identify and examine existing understandings and approaches to meaningful engagement by different actors (government, industry, local communities, Indigenous Peoples) involved in engagement activities in the Arctic.