U.S. interior secretary Debra Haaland (D-New Mexico) visited Texas recently, and officials from Railroad Commission of Texas took advantage to request additional federal funds to plug more orphaned oil and gas wells. Last year Texas was the first state to begin plugging orphaned wells using initial grants from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Texas has plugged 430 wells to date with federal funds in addition to hundreds of other wells plugged in its state-managed program. The commission anticipates plugging about 800 wells this fiscal year with federal funds in addition to at least 1,000 wells plugged in the existing state program.
More federal funds are available through formula grants. “We’re a leader in addressing orphan wells,” RRC executive director Wei Wang said, “and the legislature has passed several measures to create incentives to reduce orphan wells in Texas… We urged Secretary Haaland to help us keep the momentum. Less than two percent of oil and gas wells in the state are orphaned, and getting the formula funds quickly will help us proceed without unnecessary interruptions.”
The commission said last year 88 percent of wells plugged were plugged by operators. Haaland visited the site of an orphaned well near Houston scheduled to be plugged.