Tweet- this is part of Biden's plan:

[applegrove]

Last edited Wed Oct 6, 2021, 05:21 AM - Edit history (2)

Link to tweet

And as an added bonus the land with these abandoned and open well on them will be sellable once the wells are permanently capped. Right now farmers have to cap them themselves if they want to sell their land the lease was on. At least that is the trouble Alberta farmers have with un-capped oil wells. Capping them costs more than $100,000 or so in Canada.



https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c02234

"SNIP.......

Decommissioning Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells: New Estimates and Cost Drivers

This article provides new estimates of the costs of decommissioning oil and gas wells and the key drivers of those costs.

Journal Article in Environmental Science & Technology by Daniel Raimi, Alan Krupnick, Jhih-Shyang Shih, and Alexandra Thompson — 1 minute read — July 14, 2021

View Journal Article

Abstract

Millions of abandoned wells are scattered across the United States, causing significant methane emissions and creating a variety of health and environmental hazards. Governments are increasingly interested in decommissioning such wells via tougher regulations or direct spending, but want to do so efficiently. However, information on the costs of decommissioning wells is very limited. In this analysis, we provide new estimates of the costs of decommissioning oil and gas wells and the key drivers of those costs. We analyze data from up to 19,500 wells and find that median decommissioning costs are roughly $20,000 for plugging only, and $76,000 for plugging and surface reclamation. In rare cases, costs exceed $1 million per well. Each additional 1,000 feet of well depth increases costs by 20 percent, older wells are considerably more costly than newer ones, natural gas wells are nine percent more expensive than wells that produce oil, and costs vary widely by state. Surface characteristics also matter: each additional 10 feet of elevation change in the 5-acre area surrounding the well raises costs by three percent. Finally, we find that contracting in bulk pays off: each additional well per contract reduces decommissioning costs by three percent. These findings suggest that regulators can adjust bonding requirements to better match the characteristics of each well.

......SNIP"

[Duppers]

1. Laws should require these fossil fuel polluters

To either cover these wells or pay to have them covered. Not us taxpayers. However it must be done asap; the planet will greatly benefit...

According to the EPA, there are more than 2 million unplugged inactive wells in the United States. Bordoff says that together,
they emit as much carbon pollution as 2 million passenger vehicles per year.

Bravo to Biden & his team for addressing this problem!

[Irish_Dem]

2. Capitalist business owners like to privatize profits, but socialize their losses.

Let the taxpayer cover their debts and clean up jobs.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Yup. Pseudo-libertarians, especially RepubliQons, aren't responsible like true libertarians

Liability is the emperor's new clothes of pseudo-libertarians. They escape it at all opportunities because they are just money-grabbing greedy little slimes.

Capping and cleanup costs should be part of the cost of an oil and gas lease, UP FRONT.

[Irish_Dem]

6. At the very least, the corporations should pay taxes.

Throw some money into the general public fund.

[Duppers]

5. Exactly, Irish, exactly.

TY! 👍

[applegrove]

3. In Canada 10% of the unplugged wells are orphaned (meaning the oil

& gas company went under). 90% of them are abandoned by still thriving oil & gas companies who had it in their contract they had to decommission them when they were done. But they didn't. And Alberta's government did not sue them. In one of the Dakotas, the problem is less severe as oil is a newer industry there and somehow they managed to get the oil & gas companies to do what they contracted to do and decommission most wells when they were finished with them. I bet Texas is worse even than Alberta, which has 170, 000 orphaned or abandoned oil & gas wells.