Alberta landowners take stand over years of missed payments by delinquent oil company

A group of Edmonton landowners are taking a stand against an Alberta energy company that hasn't been making its lease payments for three years. Dale Braun, left, and Mark Dorin, right say their lease agreement with MAGA Energy dictates that if the company doesn't make the payments, the landowners are allowed to terminate the agreement and block the company from accessing a couple of oil wells on a piece of farmland in southwest Edmonton, pictured on Thursday, March 12, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jack Farrell

By Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press

Posted March 12, 2026 1:55 pm.

Some Edmonton landowners are taking a stand by erecting a blockade against what they call a delinquent oil and gas company.

The group says MAGA Energy hasn’t paid its lease for three years and says as a result MAGA employees are no longer allowed on their land.

Landowners Mark Dorin and Dale Braun put up a blockade on their piece of farmland in southwest Edmonton today, where MAGA Energy operates pumpjacks.

Oil and gas companies failing to pay landowners or pay property taxes to municipalities is a long-standing issue in Alberta.

Dorin says it’s not that the province needs new laws to address the problem, but rather the existing laws just need to be enforced.

MAGA Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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