DENVER – Hundreds of abandoned drilling wells dot eastern Wyoming like sagebrush, vestiges of a natural-gas boom that has been drying up in recent years as prices have plummeted.
The companies that once operated the wells have all but vanished into the prairie, many seeking bankruptcy protection and unable to pay the cost of reclaiming the land they leased. Recent estimates have put the number of abandoned drilling operations in Wyoming at more than 1,200, and state officials said several thousand more might soon be orphaned by their operators.
Wyoming officials are trying to address the problem amid concerns from landowners that the wells could contaminate groundwater and are a blight on the land.
This month, Gov. Matt Mead proposed allocating $3 million to pay for plugging the wells and reclaiming the land around them. And the issue is expected to be debated during this year’s legislative session as lawmakers seek to hold drilling companies more accountable.
“The downturn in natural-gas prices has forced small operators out of business, and the problem has really accelerated over the last couple of years,” said the governor’s policy director, Shawn Reese. “Landowners would like their land to be brought back to a productive status and have orphaned wells cleaned up.”
Drilling companies in Wyoming typically lease land from the state, private owners or the federal Bureau of Land Management, depending on who owns the mineral rights.
The state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission already budgets $1 million a year to plug abandoned wells. And under the governor’s proposal, the commission would appropriate an additional $3 million during the next four years in an effort to restore property value and reduce the risk of contamination.
The money would come from a conservation tax that gas and oil companies pay.
Still, given the number of wells already abandoned and the concern that more will soon be, the money is not expected to go far. The state estimated that closing the 1,200 wells already abandoned would cost about $8 million.
Compounding the problem, state officials estimate that Wyoming also may have to plug 2,300 wells that are sitting idle but have not been entirely abandoned by operators.
There are also 400 idle wells scattered across land owned by the Bureau of Land Management. State officials said they would need to work with the bureau to help deal with those wells, too.
