Well-Plugging Progress Slowing
State well plugging programs in the United States have made notable progress in their efforts to plug orphan wells. States had sealed more than 7,700 wells with federal funds as of March 2024, with California, Colorado, Louisiana, and New Mexico slashing a methane emissions equivalent of 11,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. However, progress toward plugging the +100K remaining orphan wells appears to be slowing due to logistical, technical, and regulatory challenges.
New Rules Adding to Overhead
In 2021, Congress appropriated $4.7 billion in funds to state well plugging programs with the aim of speeding up remediation efforts. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has allocated about $1 billion of this funding, which has been crucial to the well plugging programs in recent years. The first round of grants came with very few restrictions, but states now have to meet additional requirements to obtain more funding through DOI’s Formula Grant program.
New grant awards now require states to show that their well plugging efforts are aligned with standards in the Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act. The intent is to protect endangered species and historical artifacts, but this requirement adds overhead to well plugging projects. State oil and gas regulators have not historically dealt with these laws, meaning they now need to develop procedures and hire experts to help them navigate processes.
The additional overhead added by these new requirements is likely to slow well plugging projects down going forward. For example, Texas has plugged about 60 percent fewer wells in the first five months of using a new round of federal funds with the additional requirements than in previous grant rounds. In response, Congress is working on a piece of bipartisan legislation called the Orphan Well Grant Flexibility Act, which would give states more options when it comes to using grant funds.
Getting There is (Not) Half the Fun
But even without these new requirements, there are technical and logistical issues that could also slow progress. States have largely gone after easier to access wells, leaving more remote and difficult to reach wells unplugged. Many orphan wells are in remote locations or on private land, making them difficult to evaluate and remediate. Getting landowner permission to access orphan wells and building roads to move the heavy equipment needed to plug those wells takes additional time and money.
Difficulty accessing wells also makes it challenging to get good data on the well’s status and emissions. Satellite and airborne surveys can give an idea of how much methane wells are emitting, but it’s difficult to know what is going on beneath the surface until workers can run diagnostics at the well site. This lack of data adds a layer of complexity for regulators trying to prioritize which wells to plug and makes it hard to predict how much time and money it will take to plug a well.
On top of this, plugging procedures can vary considerably and are often unpredictable until operations on the well site have begun. While many wells are straightforward and can be plugged at relatively low costs, well integrity issues can quickly balloon budgets and derail programs. BioSqueeze leverages industry leading expertise and innovative technology to provide well integrity solutions to overcome a variety of challenges, saving our partners time and money while expediting plugging campaigns.
