B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title - DRAFT

1. Primary Document

1.1 Introduction

The majority of subsurface petroleum and natural gas (PNG) resources in British Columbia (B.C.) are owned by the Province. By entering into a tenure agreement with the Province, private industry can develop these resources. Tenure agreements are the mechanism used by the Province to give rights to petroleum and natural gas resources through issuance of Petroleum and Natural Gas Titles.

Further information can be found on the BC Government Petroleum and Natural Gas Tenure Site.

The following legislation and regulations govern the disposition, administration and management of petroleum and natural gas in B.C.:

Acknowledgements: The development of this documentation follows the governance framework created by the Trust over IP Foundation (ToIP) Governance Metamodel Specification created by the Governance Stack Working Group (GSWG).

No Warranty: The B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title credential is provided “as is”, and the Province of British Columbia (the “Province”) disclaims all representations, warranties, conditions, obligations, and liabilities of any kind, whether express or implied, in relation to the B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title credential, including without limitation implied warranties with respect to merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Without limiting the general nature of the previous sentence, the Province does not represent or warrant that:

(a). the B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title credential will be available;
(b) your use of the B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title credential will be timely, uninterrupted or error-free;
(c) any errors in the B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title credential will be corrected; or
(d) the B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title credential will meet your expectations and requirements.

Limitation of Liability: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, under no circumstances will the Province be liable to you, to any other individual or to any entity for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential or other loss, claim, injury or damage, whether foreseeable or unforeseeable (including without limitation claims for damages for loss of profits or business opportunities, use or misuse of, or inability to use, the B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title credential, interruptions, deletion or corruption of files, loss of programs or information, errors, defects or delays) arising out of or in any way connected with your use of the B.C. Petroleum & Natural Gas Title credential and whether based on contract, tort, strict liability or any other legal theory. The previous sentence will apply even if the Province has been specifically advised of the possibility of any such loss, claim, injury or damage.

1.2. Terminology and Notation

Please reference Glossary - General Trust Over IP Terms.

Requirements include any combination of Machine-Testable Requirements and Human-Auditable Requirements. Unless otherwise stated, all Requirements MUST be expressed as defined in RFC 2119.

Mandates are Requirements that use a MUST, MUST NOT, SHALL, SHALL NOT or REQUIRED keyword.
Recommendations are Requirements that use a SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, or RECOMMENDED keyword.
Options are Requirements that use a MAY or OPTIONAL keyword.

Machine-Testable Requirements are those with which compliance can be verified using an automated test suite and appropriate scripting or testing software.

Rules are Machine-Testable Requirements that are written in a Machine-Readable language and can be processed by a Rules Engine. They are expressed in a structured rules language as specified by the Governance Framework.

Human-Auditable Requirements are those with which compliance can only be verified by an audit of people, processes, and procedures.

Policies are Human-Auditable Requirements written using standard conformance terminology. The Policies used in the Governance Framework will use the standard terminology detailed in RFC 2119 keywords. Note that all RFC 2119 keywords have weight from an auditing perspective. An implementer MUST explain why a SHOULD or RECOMMENDED requirement was not implemented and SHOULD explain why a MAY requirement was implemented.

Specifications are documents containing any combination of Machine-Testable Requirements and Human-Auditable Requirements needed to produce technical interoperability.

1.3. Localization

The standard language for this governing framework (GF) is English.

1.4 Governing Authority

The Tenure and Resource Stewardship Branch (TRSB) is the governing authority responsible for this Governance Framework (GF).

The contact information for the TSRB is TBD:

Name:
Title:
Organization:
Email:

1.5. Administering Authority

The Administering Authority on behalf of the Tenure and Resource Stewardship Branch (TRSB) during the pilot phase of development is TBD.

Name:
Title:
Organization:
Email:

1.6 Purpose

The purpose of this GF is to define what the B.C. Petroleum and Natural Gas Title credential is and who is responsible for the authority and administration of its use.

1.7 Scope

A B.C. Petroleum and Natural Gas Title credential issued according to this GF, provides evidence of title issuance and summary tenure information.

1.8 Objectives

To allow the credential holder evidence they have been issued a B.C. Petroleum and Natural Gas Title in a verifiable credential format that is both secure and tamperproof.

1.9 Principles

The BC Public Service has one overarching corporate value, Integrity, and 6 core corporate values: Curiosity, Service, Passion, Teamwork, Accountability, and Courage. Integrity is placed above all the other values as a quality that affirms the Standards of Conduct for the BC Public Service.

1.10 General Requirements

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Title redential MUST be issued by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation (EMLI) Tenure and Resource Stewardship Branch. When petroleum and natural gas operators wish to obtain a Petroleum and Natural Gas Title in B.C., a Petroleum and Natural Gas Title Document must be provided in accordance with the B.C. Petroleum and Natural Gas Act.

1.11. Revisions

Version 1.0.

1.12. Extensions

There are no extensions to this Governance Framework.

1.13. Schedule of Controlled Documents

N/A

2. Controlled Documents

2.1. Glossary

ToIP Core Glossary

BC Petroleum and Natural Gas Act Definitions

Credential Holders: B.C. Petroleum and Natural Gas Operators
Title Holder: A person and/or a company in whose name a PNG title document is recorded in the division records

2.2. Risk Assessment

In accordance with B.C. government procedures and policies, the standard Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and Security Threat and Risk Assessment (STRA) processes have been completed for the use of this credential technology.

2.3. Trust Assurance and Certification

Development of digital technology is led by British Columbia’s Digital Code of Practice, applicable to all public service employees and contractors involved in and accountable for digital service delivery.

2.4. Governance Requirements

Legislation and regulations govern the disposition, administration, and management of petroleum and natural gas in B.C. BC Petroleum and Natural Gas Act (PNG Act).

2.5. Business Requirements

The primary use of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Title credential is for credential holders in B.C. to provide evidence of title issuance from the province according to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act (PNG Act).

2.6. Technical Requirements (Credential)

The Verifiable Credential format for this credential is AnonCreds specification (https://wiki.hyperledger.org/display/anoncreds)

2.6.1 Schema Definition

Schema Name: png.title

Schema Version: 1.0

This schema definition follows the AnonCreds specification (https://wiki.hyperledger.org/display/anoncreds)

Name	Attribute	Format	Rules	Notes
Title Number	title_number	String	not NULL	A number is used to uniquely identify a title, assigned based on administrative policy by the TRSB. The title number is associated with the Exploration Licence outlined in Section 126, part 14.126 of the PNG Act
Title Type	title_type	String	not NULL	This field specifies the type of title based on the PNG Act. Title types can include the following: 1. Lease (Part 6); 2. Permit (Part 5); 3. Drilling Licence (Part 5.1), and 4. Storage Reservoir Licence (Part 14.130). Each title has only one title type.
Issue Date	issue_date	String	not NULL	The date when a title is issued, format is YYYY-MM-DD. Section 64 of the PNG Act
Effective Date	effective_date	String	not NULL	The date when the title becomes effective, format YYYY-MM-DD. This date usually follows after an issuance date and signals the start of a title period. This date does not change.
Term	term	String	not NULL	This describes the length of time (term) granted for each title, expressed in YYYY. This date does not change.
Expiry Date	expiry_date	String	not NULL	Expiry date is defined as effective date plus term, expressed as YYYY-MM-DD. This date signals the end of the title period.
Area	area	String	not NULL	This attribute is the surface area in planned use, measured in hectares. This includes 3 dimensional layers.
Title Holders	title_holders	String	not NULL	The PNG Act describes a “holder of a location” as meaning “in accordance with the context, a permittee, licensee” . In this credential, the term title holder is used to reference a person in whose name a PNG title document is recorded in the division records. Title holders can be registered companies, and/or persons. A Title Holder will hold a percentage (%) interest in the title. Percent interest defines the percentage of interest allotted to each party named in the PNG title document. Percentage of ownership can be divided up to eight digits and should always equal 100% total. Lessee is defined by the PNG Act as “a person in whose name a lease is recorded in the division records”.
Tracts	tracts	String	not NULL	A Tract is an area of land within a title defined by locations sharing identical rights. This attribute has all of the tract(s) information contained within a title. See Tracts Appendix below for a detailed description of the information included.
Caveats	caveats	String	not NULL	Caveats provide information and guidance to the tenure holder that will assist in activity planning by identifying potential access restrictions. Caveats will also flag concerns identified through pre-tenure consultation and may recommend engagement with First Nations, stakeholders, and other agencies as appropriate. Caveats often point to relevant statute and policy and are not binding or enforced by the Ministry.

**Tracts Appendix**

Tract Numbers On all title documents is a heading which is the Tract Number. Tract Numbers are unique identifying numbers for each tract. Tracts are an administrative device to organize all title locations sharing identical rights into separate groupings.
Tract Locations Following the Tract Number is a description of Tract Location. Tract Location outlines the precise location for a tract listed on a PNG title document using specific attributes from one of two land survey systems currently in use within BC.
Tract Rights Following Tract Location is a description called Tract Rights. This section defines rights as either “Included (I)” or “Excluded (E)”. Zone names are coded “Petroleum (P)” “Petroleum Natural Gas (PNG)” (or other relevant codes). Each right will be denoted by its corresponding letter. This section outlines the rights associated with each individual tract listed on a PNG title document. This would be linked with a BC business number (i.e. BC123456). Tract rights are identified using specific Code Lists. There are Stratigraphic Codes (used to define tract rights) and Standard Zone Designations.
Tract Notes Following the description of Tract Rights is a section called Tract Notes. Tract Notes outlines specific notes or points associated with each tract. Definitions of zones used in tract rights reference specific depth intervals in the type well named in the same note. These are used to describe the type wells and the intervals in the type wells that are used to create the type.
Stratigraphic Codes are used to define tract rights and outline the following types of information: 1. Strata Zone Codes; 2. Descriptions; 3. Effective Dates; and 4. Expiry Dates.
Standard Zone Designations Following the Stratigraphic Codes, Standard Zone Designations describe the different ways by which a zone can be designated for use, defining intervals as either feet or meters. Next, the log type is identified followed by the well permit number. These codes outline 1. a standard 5-digit code; 2. descriptions of this code including geographical areas and details; 3. shortened descriptions of these details; 4. effective dates; and 6. expiry dates.
List of Stratigraphic Zone Codes used:
- TT = To Top Of
- TB = To Base Of
- SE = Special Exclusion
- IN = In
- FT = From Top Of
- FB = From Base Of
- DT = Down to Top Of
- DB = Down to Base of
- BT = Below Top Of
- BB = Below Base Of
- AZ = All Zones

2.6.2. Credential Implementation

2.7. Information Trust Requirements

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act sets out the access and privacy rights of individuals as they relate to the public sector in British Columbia.

2.8. Inclusion, Equitability, and Accessibility Requirements

The Accessible British Columbia Act informs AccessibleBC

The Diversity & Inclusion Strategy for the BC Public Service outlines the committments of BC govenment in supporting inclusion, equitability and access throughout the province.

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (Declaration Act) establishes the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) as BC’s framework for reconciliation that respects the human rights of Indigenous Peoples.

2.9. Legal Agreements

TBD