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Abandoned Oil/Gas Wells: Congressional Legislation Introduced to Establish U.S. Department of Energy Research/Development/Demonstration Program

July 02, 2021

By: Walter G. Wright

Category: Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law

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Congressional legislation was introduced on June 30th titled:

Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act (“Act”)

United States Representative Conor Lamb (PA-17) and Representative Stephanie Bice (OK-05) are cosponsors of the Act.

The legislation would require the United States Department of Energy (“DOE”) to establish an abandoned oil and gas wells research, development, and demonstration program.

The DOE program would be required to address:

  • Data collection of the location of abandoned wells
  • Plugging, remediation, reclamation and repurposing of abandoned wells
  • Mitigating potential environmental impacts of documented and undocumented wells

The legislation also describes a variety of activities that would be a focus of such research such as:

  • Remote sensor capabilities and other technologies relevant to the efficient identification of abandoned wells
  • Understanding of how certain parameters of abandoned wells affect methane emission rates
  • Efficiency and cost-efficacy processes for plugging, remediating, reclaiming and repurposing abandoned wells

The Act defines an abandoned well as a:

. . . well originally drilled in connection with oil and gas operations that is not being used, has not been plugged, and has no anticipated use in oil and gas operations.

A copy of the Act can be downloaded here.

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