Plugging

President Biden on Wednesday asked Congress for a massive infusion of funding to overhaul the nation’s power grids and expand renewable energy as part of a landmark program designed to fight climate change and expand American jobs. The estimated $2 trillion American Jobs Plan, if enacted by a split Congress, would be the most ambitious…

Diversified Gas & Oil plc said this week that it has extended its asset retirement agreement with Ohio regulators and agreed to plug more wells each year.

Diversified Gas & Oil plc, which has faced scrutiny in the Appalachian Basin over well plugging liabilities, has cut a long-term deal with regulators in Kentucky to further address asset retirement obligations.

With less than a month before the West Virginia Legislature’s 60-day regular session concludes, a suite of oil and natural gas-related bills is advancing in what has so far been a calmer year for the industry at the capitol, especially compared to 2018 when it won a long-fought battle for co-tenancy.

Diversified Gas & Oil plc is doubling down on its well plugging obligations across the Appalachian Basin, defending its commitment to the process in West Virginia, where it’s being challenged by a skeptical landowner rights organization that’s concerned about how far the company is willing to go to fulfill its responsibilities.

Lawmakers in the Oklahoma House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill to extend the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s (OCC) program to plug abandoned oil and gas wells for another five years, but budget cuts and lower tax revenues from oil and gas are forcing the commission to divert well-plugging funds for other uses.

In the face of the current robust oil and natural gas exploration/production (E&P) work in natural resource-rich states like Wyoming, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is prodding states to prepare for an inevitable downturn. EDF contends that in past boom-bust periods, operators abandoned many wells without properly capping and closing them.

Apache Corp. said the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement approved a permit to enable the company to resume plugging and abandonment operations at East Cameron Block 278 Platform B in the Gulf of Mexico. Operations were suspended when a leak was discovered about Sunday morning by an Apache crew, which saw bubbling near the platform. Air monitoring equipment found no traces of gas emissions on the facility, and power had been restored to assure safe operations, the company said Thursday. The depleted gas field is in water depths of 168 feet about 95 miles south of Cameron, LA.

Apache Corp. said the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement approved a permit to enable the company to resume plugging and abandonment operations at East Cameron Block 278 Platform B in the Gulf of Mexico. Operations were suspended when a leak was discovered Sunday morning by an Apache crew, which saw bubbling near the platform (see Daily GPI, Jan. 20). Air monitoring equipment found no traces of gas emissions on the facility and power had been restored to assure safe operations, the company said Thursday. The depleted gas field is in water depths of 168 feet about 95 miles south of Cameron, LA. Apache acquired East Cameron 278 in 2003. The development of the wells and installation of the platform occurred in the 1990s by prior owner-operators. Apache holds a 50% working interest, with Stone Energy holding the remaining working interest.