Orphaned Wells Program Office Stories

Orphaned & Abandoned Wells Workshop - National Academies 

The National Academies convened a workshop in Washington, DC for DOI’s Orphaned Wells Program Office to discuss existing practices and standards for plugging orphaned and abandoned hydrocarbon wells and included discussions 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 included perspectives from the federal government, states, tribes, industry, and other stakeholders. 
• Orphaned Wells Program Office Director Kimbra Davis was featured as a speaker for the workshop.

Watch the recording from the July 18-19 workshop here.