Plugging abandoned oil and gas wells in the Permian Basin could become more affordable

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MIDLAND, Texas — In the oil and gas industry, there is a focus on plugging wells that have likely reached the end of their production period. Texas has its own fund that helps plug abandoned wells, and over the last couple of years the federal government has also contributed financially.

However, there has been some concern over how the U.S. Department of the Interior was distributing grant money to states to plug abandoned wells, or orphaned wells. The Railroad Commission of Texas recently had a resolution it offered approved to hold the federal government accountable, and with the amount of wells in the Permian Basin, the resolution could be a benefit.

"The Permian Basin could benefit from those federal funds if they were made available without all of the worrisome strings that are currently attached to it by the Department of the Interior, as well as taking advantage of the fund that's set up through the state," said Stephen Robertson, Executive Vice President of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association.

Only about 3% of the wells in Texas are orphaned, and the state began plugging those types of wells back in 1983.

With the federal government getting involved in 2021, this resolution aims to make them do what they’re supposed to.

"We hope that the federal government understands the importance of this opportunity, that [it] understands what the actual declaration was in the legislation authorizing this fund to be created and distributed to people," said Robertson.

The purpose behind plugging wells is to eliminate possible environmental issues with well integrity.

"We want to make sure that we’re taking care of our workspace," said Robertson. "We’re cleaning up after ourselves, we’re making sure that the environment is put back into the best possible shape that it can be. So, whether it's an orphaned well or a well that's just not producing for an operator that plugs it themselves, we want to make sure that we genuinely are taking care of the landscape out there, and making sure that we’re providing a future environment that other people want to be able to utilize and benefit from."

The process breaks down the well site and leaves the landscape clean.

"Those in the oil and gas industry want to take care of the fields where we operate, and particularly out here in the Permian Basin, we live where we work," said Robertson. "We want to make sure that we are being the best conservationists of the environment that we can be. That includes making sure that we are properly plugging and cleaning up oilfield sites that are no longer in use. But if those wells could be useful in future production, we absolutely want to take advantage of that as well."

Robertson noted that some orphaned wells can be restored if more production can be found in them. He also mentioned that there are about 8,000 orphaned wells in Texas, but that number fluctuates on a day-to-day basis.