EDMONTON -- Solutions to oil patch unemployment and abandoned wells are one in the same, the Alberta government is saying.

Expanding on a promise made in Budget 2020, Alberta announced Monday morning plans to increase its loan to the Orphan Well Association by up to $100 million.

The reclamation work will create 500 jobs and address between 800 and 1,000 abandoned sites, Premier Jason Kenney estimated.

"There is a path forward for growth in our energy sector, but we know we need to give a lifeline to some people who are out of work right now," he said at the announcement at Total Energy Services in Leduc, Alta.

Alberta had previously lent, interest free, $235 million to the OWA, which it had begun repaying in 2019 with funds from the Orphan Fund Levy.

Energy Minister Sonya Savage added she would reveal in the coming weeks policy changes that would give the OWA more flexibility regarding ownership and control, as well as sale and management, of wells.

She said the government recognizes the "pressing need to turn the tide on growing oil and gas liabilities."

There are 6,500 abandoned wells throughout Alberta, the OWA estimates.

The loan extension got a nod of approval from Opposition and NDP Leader Rachel Notley.

"It's a continuation of what we were doing before. It was a good idea when we did it, and it continues to be a good idea."

However, she called the United Conservative government's "Blueprint for Jobs" plan, a part of which the orphan well announcement was made, "words and empty ideas that have not created any jobs at all."

The blueprint plan, the government says, consists of: