Long Run: the receiver's exit, and a one-page form for CCB's counsel to sign

The form runs to a single page. Marked "SAMPLE FORM ONLY," it names China Construction Bank Toronto Branch, as collateral agent, as the secured party and lists one security notice, registration 2002775 of November 4, 2020, as "wholly discharged with respect to all agreements against which it is (they are) registered," per the Sixth Report of the Receiver, Oct. 5, 2026, App. "G". PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. LIT, receiver and manager of Long Run Exploration Ltd., attached it as an example of what CCB or its agent could register to cancel all of the bank's fixed charges against Long Run's interests in land. The receiver understands that a secured creditor can do that with one page, and that the Minister of Energy and Minerals cannot, and must cancel the charges one at a time. "Notwithstanding that the CCB Charge Cancellation Order was granted nearly ten months ago, and notwithstanding attempts by the Receiver's legal counsel to follow up on the same, the Minister has not complied with the CCB Charge Cancellation Order," the report says. Some charges have been cancelled, the receiver understands, but "there are thousands of fixed charges, and many remain registered," per the Sixth Report, Oct. 5, 2026, paras. 11.5–11.7.

On October 14, PwC will ask Justice M. H. Bourque, on the Commercial List in Calgary, for an order directing CCB's legal counsel, as its agent, to execute and register that cancellation under s. 96 of the Mines and Minerals Act. Counsel for CCB, the receiver's application says, has told the receiver's counsel that it objects, per the Application by Receiver, Oct. 5, 2026, p. 1 and paras. 1(g), 43. No filing by CCB is in the record, and neither the report nor the application gives CCB's reasons.

Among its other requests, the same application would carry the receivership the Orphan Well Association obtained in March 2025, toward its end: three more oil and gas sales and a land sale, with prices in a confidential supplement the receiver asks to seal; a limited discharge over joint interests the company could not sell; authority to destroy records; and the receiver's own discharge, save over records some parties want kept, per the Sixth Report, Oct. 5, 2026, para. 1.12. When the case was last reported here, on June 27, the clean-up of a release at Long Run's shut-in Kakut facility stood at approximately $2.75 million, per the Fifth Report of the Receiver, June 15, 2026, para. 3.7.

A sale that did not close

Long Run, a private oil and gas producer in Alberta and Saskatchewan, holds licences for "thousands of oil and gas wells, pipelines and facilities" across Alberta, the receiver's application says. It came to receivership through a failed CCAA sale. On November 21, 2024, the court approved a transaction with Hiking Group Shandong Jinyue Int'l Trading Corporation, or its nominee, for the business. Hiking was unable to fund the price, "asserting that this was due to challenges transferring money out of China due to regulations of the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange," and the deal did not close. Long Run, the application says, could not sustain the liquidity to keep operating by the stay's expiry on February 28, 2025, per the Application by Receiver, Oct. 5, 2026, paras. 2–5. On March 5, 2025, on the OWA's application, Justice G. A. Campbell appointed PwC, per the Sixth Report, Oct. 5, 2026, para. 1.1.

The sale process, run with Sayer Energy Advisors, opened on May 2, 2025 and drew 138 bids by June 19. The receiver weighed each on what it calls Total Consideration, the cash plus the abandonment and reclamation obligations, or ARO, a buyer would assume, and sometimes took a bid assuming more ARO with lower closing risk over one for select assets with more cash. A substantial number of licensed assets drew no interest, the application says, "because Long Run's asset base is spread widely across Alberta and many of these locations are uneconomic." Because the receiver does not expect sale proceeds to surpass the ARO, "the AER is the fulcrum stakeholder," per the Application by Receiver, Oct. 5, 2026, paras. 9–18.

Three more buyers, and a right of first refusal

The court approved five sales in October 2025, thirteen in December and one in March 2026, per the Sixth Report, Oct. 5, 2026, paras. 1.5, 1.7, 1.9, and four land sales in June, which have closed, per the Application by Receiver, Oct. 5, 2026, para. 34. Now come WiT Energy Corp., Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. and Mancal Energy Inc., under agreements executed on September 4, 15 and 28, 2026, and a fourth amendment, dated September 11, adding mineral rights to Barrel Oil Corp.'s purchase approved in October 2025, per the Application by Receiver, Oct. 5, 2026, paras. 1(a)–(d), 25. The three sales are "as-is, where-is," with no post-closing price adjustment; the buyers bear any cure costs, and closing does not depend on regulatory transfers. In some instances, the receiver says, they "represent the only Bids received for the subject assets and therefore provide the best price in the circumstances." It asks that the Confidential Supplement holding the unredacted agreements be sealed until December 31, 2026, by when it expects every transaction to have closed, per the Sixth Report, Oct. 5, 2026, paras. 4.3–4.5, 5.1, 9.1–9.3. "The Receiver does not expect to bring additional proposed transactions to this Honourable Court for approval as the Receiver is of the view that all of Long Run's material saleable Property has now been sold," per the Sixth Report, Oct. 5, 2026, para. 5.4.

The land sale is the Falher Property, one of three Grande Prairie-region parcels listed with Royal LePage, per the Application by Receiver, Oct. 5, 2026, para. 32(a). From multiple offers the receiver accepted the highest, signed an agreement and took a 10% deposit. The parcel is subject to a right of first refusal held by two individuals, who on notice exercised it; the first agreement was terminated and the deposit returned. Their own agreement carries a 10% deposit, and continued marketing, the receiver says, "will not necessarily generate any higher or better offers," per the Sixth Report, Oct. 5, 2026, paras. 7.3–7.8, 8.3.

The interests no one took

On April 7, 2026, under an order of December 15, 2025, the receiver's certificate effected a limited discharge over all of Long Run's remaining licensed wells, facilities and pipelines. What is left are joint interests in wells and facilities licensed to, and in some cases operated by, other companies. Some sold; others went, generally to the licensee, by quit claim. The rest, approximately 867 joint interests in wells and 31 in facilities, Long Run "has been unable to sell or transfer," and "the majority of the Remaining Interests have generated no interest or executable offers." The AER and the OWA, the receiver says, confirmed they would not object to its seeking a limited discharge over them, and citing "the volume and complexity of the Company's joint interest relationships," it asks that the order also reach interests found later, per the Sixth Report, Oct. 5, 2026, paras. 10.1–10.6. Under the draft order the stay over each tranche would lift when its certificate is delivered, and the form of certificate states that the listed interests "have been transferred to the AER," per the Application by Receiver, Oct. 5, 2026, Sched. "8", paras. 1–4 and Sched. "A".