Full Title: Environmental Risks and Opportunities of Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells in the United States
Author(s): Mary Kang, Jade Boutot, Renee C McVay, Katherine A Roberts, Scott Jasechko, Debra Perrone, Tao Wen, Greg Lackey, Daniel Raimi, and Dominic C Digiulio
Publisher(s): IOP Publishing
Publication Date: June 20, 2023
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Abandoned (i.e. temporarily or permanently inactive or idle) oil and gas wells that are unplugged can contribute to air and water quality degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions (primarily in the form of methane), posing risks to ecosystem and human health. One approach to reduce climate and environmental risks is to plug, or more broadly to seal, remediate, and reclaim, unplugged wells. Due to the 160 year history of oil and gas development, the high costs of plugging and the underfunding of state programs responsible for ensuring remediation of this legacy infrastructure, many abandoned wells in the United States (U.S.) remain unplugged. A subset of abandoned wells, known as orphaned wells that include both known (‘documented’) and unknown (‘undocumented’) wells, lack a financially responsible party, placing the financial burden associated with plugging on the government, and thus, the tax-paying general public. Addressing environmental risks through well plugging creates jobs, allows for repurposing land for other developmental uses, and facilitates subsurface energy production and storage operations. In November 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law creating the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and $4.7 billion USD was allocated to plug orphaned oil and gas wells across the U.S. This federal funding provides an unprecedented opportunity to address the climate and environmental risks posed by orphaned oil and gas wells, while stimulating the economy and creating jobs.