There’s been a surge of abandoned oil and gas wells in Colorado over the past 90 days
Colorado’s orphan well program spent a record $10.2 million in 2023 and completed plugging on 61 wells, but in the last 90 days saw a “surge” with 200 new abandoned oil and gas wells and sites, state regulators say.
As of Sept. 22, Colorado had 445 orphan wells to plug and 1,151 associated sites to remediate, according to state data.
The 2023 annual orphan well report of the state Energy and Carbon Management Commission, formerly the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, outlines the work at hundreds of sites in 19 counties across the state. The report covers a fiscal year from July 2022 to June.
The wells on the list need to be plugged and the sites, which can contain flowlines, tanks and other equipment, as well possibly spills and contaminated earth, need to be remediated.
It takes only a few days to plug a well, but remediating a site can take several growing seasons to complete, according to Dave Andrews, manager of the ECMC orphan well program.