Full Title: A Study of Terminal Decline Rates of Oil & Gas Wells
Author(s): Brad Handler, Vandan Bhalala, Liam O’Byrne and Jim Crompton
Publisher(s): The Payne Institute for Public Policy
Publication Date: June 9, 2025
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
In the United States alone, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there may be nearly 4 million inadequately decommissioned oil and gas wells. These wells and associated surface facilities represent material health and safety risks for people and nature in their immediate surroundings. They also collectively are a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, a driving force behind global warming.
A climate mitigation business model is emerging in which a project developer undertakes to properly plug a leaking abandoned wellbore (or a leaking orphaned well, which is a subset of abandoned wells that lack a viable owner) to stop its fugitive emissions, specifically methane, as well as leaks of brine or other hazardous fluids. These developers are establishing value for the work associated with this plugging (and land reclamation) via private sources of capital, including in the voluntary carbon offset market.