More privatized profit and socialized risk. Down with regulation Companies that own oil and gas wells are supposed to plug them at the end of their useful life, though exact rules vary depending on which state a well is in and whether it’s under federal or state control. In practice, though, plugging often doesn’t happen. Some companies leave inactive wells idle in the hopes of recommissioning them later; others transfer ownership or simply walk away. Across the region studied, the researchers found far more unplugged inactive wells than active and producing wells, particularly off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. Earlier research led by Mary Kang at McGill University found that 3 in 5 wells ever drilled in the U.S. (both on land and offshore) are now inactive, but only a third have been permanently plugged and abandoned. Many states have programs designed to tackle orphaned wells, but “when you look at the amount of funding available relative to the amount of orphan wells, what you see is historically, it hasn’t been enough to keep up,” says Gregory Upton Jr., an associate research professor at Louisiana State University and a co-author on the Nature Energy study. Last year, the Biden administration set aside $4.7 billion for a new federal program to address orphan wells, including $1.8 billion earmarked for states. But the researchers’ findings make clear how much more money will be needed, particularly if the U.S. continues a transition away from fossil fuels. Study finds that Gulf of Mexico has a $30B unplugged oil well problem Study finds that Gulf of Mexico has a $30B unplugged oil well problem - Tampa Bay Times For more great content like this subscribe to the Tampa Bay Times app here:
What does that actually mean? Are these wells depleted and therefore left behind without being plugged to prevent dregs seeping out in perpetuity, or are we talking about lower production wells that aren't viable in the current petroleum market climate, and so they've been "temporarily" capped with possibility to more quickly restart them in the future?
This was also in the piece: Left unplugged, nonproducing wells can continue to release “things that in large quantities are not good for ecosystems or human health,” says Mark Agerton, an assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California at Davis and co-author of the study. “We don’t want those things in our drinking water or on the ground next to us or in our food.”
They got us Tampagtr - on land, the sea and of course in the air. Sea - The plastic continent floating in the Pacific is a fine statement about the nature of human beings, not to mention your uncapped Oil Wells. Land - Google how many "chemicals" are injected ino a fracking well. Air - Build baby Build - (Coal Fired Power Plants) Texas and of course the entire third world. And people WONDER why 1 out of every 2 of us are diagnosed with cancer! SMDH Biden is caving right now to Petroleum interests in Alaska BIG TIME. Western Industrialized countries set the model and standards for "A better life" with unbelievable units of energy consumption for the average Westener. And we are going to tell the rest of the planet not to do what we did? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Energy far exceeds Heroin or Fentanyl or cigarettes when it comes to addiction. Anyone that thinks Capatalists are going to surrender 10's or 100's of trillions of dollars to reverse the coming train wreck of human civilization are..............FOOLS, IMO. Just glad I'm 64.
100%. Three years behind you in being able to unironically play the Beatles' tune. Worry for my daughter and theoretical potential grandchildren
