States having issues with federal program to plug orphan oil and gas wells: not enough pluggers, new rules from Interior

Crude oil, water, chemicals and probably methane leak from an orphaned well’s

borehole in West Texas. (Photo by Shelby Webb, Energy & Environment News)

The federal government has $4.7 billion to plug orphaned oil and gas wells, "but the new federal money is creating logistical and regulatory challenges . . . raising many questions about whether the money will live up to its promise," Shelby Webb reports for Energy & Environment News.

"Some officials say they are having a hard time finding enough crews to plug the wells under the timelines dictated by the federal funds, and available workers are charging higher prices than originally anticipated," Webb reports. "Many orphaned wells also remain undiscovered, putting pressure on states to develop new methods for finding and plugging them."

The latest hiccup is the Interior Department's new rules for the grant money, which it announced last week. They "will require states to track methane emissions, develop screening processes to check for groundwater pollution and prioritize plugging wells near historically underserved communities," Webb reports. "However, Lori Wrotenbery, executive director of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, said in an email that Interior cannot require states to track methane or groundwater pollution and can instead only tell states they are 'expected' or 'encouraged' to do so. The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission represents all but one of the 26 states that have been deemed eligible to receive the federal orphaned well plugging funds."

The Interior Department told Webb that while methane and water-pollution measurements were encouraged in its initial grants, they are now “requirements.”

Webb writes, "There may be as many as 800,000 orphaned wells across the country, according to some estimates. In 2021, states reported 126,806 to the Department of Interior, although many experts say that number vastly understates the problem. Along with being eyesores, the wells may be polluting groundwater and are estimated to be the 10th largest source of methane emissions in the U.S., according to a study by McGill University in Canada."