Researchers from New Mexico’s two national laboratories are working to identify and study abandoned oil and gas wells across the state, with the goal of determining the full environmental impact of the wells and the cost of cleanup.
Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories were part of a consortium of federal agencies and national laboratories funded by approximately $30 million included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress on last year and signed into law by President Joe Biden.
The group also included the US Department of Energy, the Interstate Oil and Gas Contract Commission, the Department of the Interior and Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratories.
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The study will endeavor to find undocumented wells in New Mexico and other oil-producing states, and investigate the extent of their impacts, focusing on methane emissions.
Scientists will use drones equipped with sensors to fly over abandoned wells, known as “orphan” in industrial terms when a company deems them financially unviable.
When a well is orphaned, it becomes unguarded and research shows it can leak air and groundwater pollutants into the environment.
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In New Mexico, companies generally take out bonds when a well is drilled to pay for this work in the event of abandonment, but this financing is often insufficient to pay for the plugging of the well and the restoration of the landscape.
Federal funds will be used to develop new technologies to locate wells, study the rate of methane emissions and other impacts.
The data developed will be used to prioritize wells for remediation.
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It’s part of the Biden administration’s goal to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, compared to 2020 levels, a Los Alamos announcement read, and will be carried out over the next five years. .
Hari Viswanathan, a Los Alamos scientist leading the project, said it could overcome the challenges of finding and repairing abandoned wells, as they were often drilled and orphaned before regulations were put in place requiring the documentation.
“These long-abandoned and orphan oil and natural gas wells are scattered across the United States, and determining their location can be very difficult because they were drilled before regulatory laws were enacted,” he said. -he declares.
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Undocumented and abandoned wells often have no registered owners, he said, and researchers will focus on remediation to end any ongoing environmental impacts.
“An undocumented orphan well is a well that has never been documented on public maps and records and has been abandoned by its legal owners, who no longer claim responsibility for it,” he said.
“Information about its owner and construction has been lost. The goal is to document them so they can be fixed and plugged in.
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Recent research by the Environmental Defense Fund has revealed abandoned wells spread across the southeastern New Mexico Permian Basin and northwestern San Juan Basin regions.
The study located 622 documented wells, although the New Mexico Petroleum Conservation Division (OCD), the state’s primary oil and gas regulatory agency, estimated there could be as many as to 1,700 orphan wells in New Mexico.
They can cost up to $70,000 to patch and repair, costs that can run into the millions of dollars depending on specific job site conditions.
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If left derelict, wells can pose risks to local communities — often rural and remote areas heavily populated by people of color and low-income families, the report said.
New Mexico’s southeastern counties had the most orphaned wells of any region in the state, according to the report, led by Chaves County with 347 orphaned wells, followed by 102 in Lea County and 57 in Eddy County.
Rio Arriba and San Juan counties to the northwest had 41 and 40 abandoned wells, respectively, according to research.
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“When a well is not plugged, it can leak oil and other toxic chemicals, endanger water wells and other sources, contribute to air pollution and emit methane gas. – a potent greenhouse gas,” the report said.
“Orphan wells also have a significant impact on local communities and economies by threatening the health and well-being of residents and decreasing property values - which in turn reduces funding for local schools, police departments and ‘other public services’.
The state of New Mexico expected to receive about $25 million for the work itself in an initial round of federal funds from the infrastructure bill, and OCD Director Adrienne Sandoval said an additional $74 million in grants may be available.
She said more funding may continue to be needed in coming years as more wells may be abandoned amid the up-and-down swings that characterize the fossil fuel market and subsequent production.
“It is possible that more wells will be orphaned,” Sandoval said. “We try to take proactive measures to prevent this, but unfortunately the operators become insolvent and leave their assets to the state.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.