Mi chell Chandle The Wilde ness Socie y
Wes e n Ene gy P ojec (WEP) and Conse a i es o Responsible S ewa dship (CRS)
es ima e ha 3.8 million oil and/o gas wells could po en ially be d illed on all o he lands
open o leasing as a esul o he T ump adminis a ion’s leasing egime. E en ually, hese
wells become abandoned o o phaned. Abandoned wells a e unplugged oil and gas wells ha
a e no longe economically iable bu ha e a esponsible pa y who is liable o plugging and
si e es o a ion, while o phaned wells a e unplugged and non-p oducing oil and gas wells
wi h no esponsible pa y (DOI O phaned Wells P og am O ice 2024). These ca ego ies a e
ypically conside ed oge he o he pu poses o discussing me hane emissions om oil and
gas wells (DOI O phaned Wells P og am O ice 2024;Williams e al. 2020;Riddick e al.
2024), hough i is plausible ha o phaned wells emi mo e me hane han abandoned wells
due o a lack o main enance and he e o e g ea e de e io a ion o in as uc u e (Riddick
e al. 2024). Ne e heless, he dis inc ion be ween me hane emissions om o phaned wells
and om abandoned wells is no conside ed he e, and I use he e m abandoned wells o
e e o bo h abandoned and o phaned wells.
Unplugged abandoned wells a e a subs an ial sou ce o an h opogenic me hane emissions.
As pa o he Bipa isan In as uc u e Law, he O phaned Wells P og am O ice has sup-
po ed o phaned well plugging and si e emedia ion (DOI O phaned Wells P og am O ice
2024). Unde his p og am, me hane es s ha e been conduc ed a 1446 o phaned wells and
hese wells subsequen ly plugged as o June 2024. The a e age me hane emission a e ac oss
hese 1446 unplugged o phaned wells was app oxima ely 70 g ams/hou (g/h; 1 ounce ≈
28.3 g ams; DOI O phaned Wells P og am O ice 2024). Applying his emission a e o he
3.8 million po en ial wells gi es a me hane emission a e o :
70 g/h/well ·3.8×106wells = 266 ×106g/h = 266 /h,
whe e is me ic ons. The e o e, o e he cou se o a yea , hese abandoned wells would
emi :
266 /h·8760 h = 2 330 160 ≈2.3 million me ic ons,
equi alen o he g eenhouse gas emissions om mo e han 15 million gasoline-powe ed pas-
senge ehicles d i en o one yea (EPA).
Plugging abandoned wells signi ican ly dec eases hei me hane emissions. Fo example,
as o June 2024, he BLM epo ed ha all eigh me hane-emi ing o phaned wells hey
plugged h ough he O phaned Wells P og am we e no longe emi ing de ec able le els
o me hane (DOI O phaned Wells P og am O ice 2024). Riddick e al. (2024) es ima e
he a e age me hane emission a e o plugged abandoned wells in he US o be 1.2 g/h.
Applying his emission a e o he 3.8 million po en ial wells gi es a me hane emission a e
o :
1.2 g/h/well ·3.8×106wells = 4.56 ×106g/h = 4.56 /h
o 4.56 /h·8760 h = 39 945.6 o me hane emi ed each yea , he equi alen o he g een-
house gas emissions om almos 261 housand gasoline-powe ed passenge ehicles d i en
o one yea (EPA). I is clea ha plugging abandoned wells is essen ial o educing an-
h opogenic me hane emissions.
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Mi chell Chandle The Wilde ness Socie y
Fu he mo e, a ecen s udy in Colo ado iden i ied an abandoned well emi ing an un-
p eceden ed 76 000 g/h o me hane (Riddick e al. 2024) – a supe -emi e – which he e o e
indica es ha ea lie s udies (e.g. Williams e al. 2020) likely unde es ima e a e age me hane
emissions om abandoned wells. Riddick e al. (2024) es ima ed an a e age me hane emis-
sion a e o 1.2 g/h o plugged wells and 198 g/h o unplugged wells ac oss he US, o an
a e age a e o app oxima ely 88 g/h ( hey assumed 1.9 million unplugged abandoned wells
and 1.5 million plugged abandoned wells in he US based on EPA epo ing). Using he
Riddick e al. (2024) a e age me hane emission a e o unplugged wells would ob iously
gi e a la ge me hane emissions o al han using he DOI O phaned Wells P og am O ice
(2024) alue. Such la ge unce ain y and a iabili y in me hane emissions be ween s udies
a ises because he numbe o abandoned wells ha ha e ac ually had hei me hane emissions
measu ed is minuscule compa ed o he o al numbe o abandoned wells, and a iabili y in
me hane emission a es be ween abandoned wells can be la ge.
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