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on my latest feature for @grist: Millions of oil and gas wells have been abandoned. Some contaminate soil and groundwater. Some leak methane. Some are just hazardous pipes sticking out of the ground. Where will the $$ come from to clean them up? 1/10 https://grist.org/energy/plugging-abandoned-oil-wells-carbon-offsets/
I started reporting this because I kept hearing about a nonprofit in Montana run by an ex-oil worker who was raising money to plug abandoned wells. It turned out it was a trend. I spoke to industry veterans in OK and TX trying to do the same thing. 2/10 https://grist.org/energy/plugging-abandoned-oil-wells-carbon-offsets/
They want to take the load off state/fed plugging programs that are responsible for an ever-growing number of âorphanedâ and abandoned wells, left behind by companies that went bankrupt or couldnât afford to plug them. But how to raise the money? 3/10 https://grist.org/energy/plugging-abandoned-oil-wells-carbon-offsets/
One idea? Carbon credits. Some abandoned wells leak methane. Could they fund plugging projects through the carbon offset market?
Sounds good...except that itâs unclear whether wells are leaking enough CH4 for the credits to amount to much. 4/10 https://grist.org/energy/plugging-abandoned-oil-wells-carbon-offsets/
Sounds good...except that itâs unclear whether wells are leaking enough CH4 for the credits to amount to much. 4/10 https://grist.org/energy/plugging-abandoned-oil-wells-carbon-offsets/
Many wells donât leak any CH4. Some leak a lot. About 16% of leaks account for 98% of emissions from abandoned wells. But thereâs few clues as to why or where to find them. There's SO. LITTLE. DATA. At the very least, the offset market could drive research & data collection. 5/10
As these industry vets rack their brains & rolodexes for funding strategies, the problem is getting worse
Energy transition + COVID = more bankruptcies and abandoned wells
In the story I get into why regulation is failing and possible solutions to stem the coming tide 6/10
Energy transition + COVID = more bankruptcies and abandoned wells
In the story I get into why regulation is failing and possible solutions to stem the coming tide 6/10
Then thereâs risk of moral hazard. With a carbon market and 3rd parties plugging wells pro-bono, will operators escape responsibility? Is the risk worth it, considering the mess weâre in & the failures of regs? Read through to the end if youâre interested in these ??s. 7/10
One piece left out of this story is the social cost of methane. If you account for the health & climate consequences of CH4, plugging leaky wells looks relatively cheap. See this paper from 2019 by Mary Kang et al. 8/10 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421519303490
Earlier this year House Dems tried to create a $2 billion jobs program to put O&G workers back to work plugging wells earlier this year. It stalled in the Senate. I wrote about this âbig jobs programâ approach this summer. 9/10 https://grist.org/energy/a-jobs-program-to-plug-abandoned-oil-wells-sounds-like-a-win-win-is-it/
With abandoned wells, there are more questions than answers. It's bigger and more complicated than any single solution can address. Iâd love to hear from you if you have questions about my story or want to talk about any of this further. 10/10 https://grist.org/energy/plugging-abandoned-oil-wells-carbon-offsets/
