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Orphaned and abandoned wells can present a risk to the environment and public by emitting methane, contaminating groundwater, and/or impacting ecosystems. The National Academies will convene a workshop to discuss existing practices and standards for plugging orphaned and/or abandoned hydrocarbon wells, including current best practices around well-plugging technologies, standards, and procedures. For the purposes of the workshop, orphaned and abandoned wells are unplugged nonproducing wells with no known owner or operator capable of properly plugging the well and that may not have been operated and maintained in accordance with prevailing statute and regulation.
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Workshop
·2025
When oil and gas production began in the 19th century in North America, standards and regulations for the drilling and plugging of wells had not yet been developed. Over time, many of these and other wells were abandoned - unplugged, or not plugged to modern standards, and have sat idle for an exten...
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Description
The National Academies will convene a workshop for DOI’s Orphaned Wells Program Office to discuss existing practices and standards for plugging orphaned and abandoned hydrocarbon wells and will include discussion of:
- Historic and current well-plugging standards and design and operational practices used in the United States;
- How these standards and practices may differ based on factors such as well age, well depth, well location, material specification (e.g., casing, line, screening), geologic and geophysical environment, production type, distance to populated areas, and remediation and restoration requirements;
- Consideration of cost, technology, or other factors that impact the development of well-plugging plans; and
- Environmental benefits to well-plugging and/or mitigation of adverse environmental impacts from well-plugging (e.g., methane leakage mitigation, groundwater and surface water protection, surface reclamation, landscape/seascape degradation or restoration, and protection of animal and bird migration corridors).
The workshop will include perspectives from the federal government, states, tribes, industry, and other stakeholders. The workshop will include a written proceedings.
Contributors
Sponsors
Department of the Interior
Staff
Noel Walters
Lead
Cameron Oskvig
Lead
Deborah Glickson
Lead
Miles Lansing