The federal government is providing California with funds to reclaim and restore orphaned oil and gas wells. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced $35.2 million for the state to plug and remediate 206 orphaned wells and decommission 47 related production facilities with approximately 70,000 feet of associated pipelines. California will also detect and measure methane emissions, test groundwater and surface water, and prioritize wells “near overburdened and disadvantaged communities.”
An “idle well” is one that has not been used for at least two years and has not yet been formally plugged and abandoned. Idle wells can become “orphaned” if an insolvent operator deserts the well. The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) estimates that there are more than 5,300 orphan or potentially orphan wells in the state. (see California Releases Initial List of Orphan Oil Wells for Permanent Closure.)
The California legislature is currently considering AB 1866, which eliminates the option for a well operator to pay idle well fees, requires an operator to develop a plan to plug idle oil wells, and implements a stricter provision on when an operator has deserted a well. (see Bill to Plug Idle Oil and Gas Wells Passes Out of Natural Resources Committee.)
The funds are from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided $4.7 billion for orphaned well site plugging, remediation and restoration activities on federal, Tribal, state and private lands.