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If its anything like how it works in most other oil and gas sectors, they transfer the well infrastructure to shell companies for next to nothing when they are
by throwaway2048 6y ago
If its anything like how it works in most other oil and gas sectors, they transfer the well infrastructure to shell companies for next to nothing when they are at or near the end of their useful production life, that then promptly go bankrupt.
Now the big companies don't have to pay for clean up, magic.
- noja 6y agoThat only works once. If the other side expects shenanigans, then the company can prepay the cleanup cost somehow, either as an ongoing tax, as upfront fee, or as an insurance pool that you pay into. There are probably hundreds of ways of structuring it.
- throwaway2048 6y agoExcept there is zero political will to ensure such a fund is either extant, or properly funded. This story has repeated itself a lot.
- specialist 6y agoTIL: There's a million (or so) abandoned well heads in North America. Suggesting the trick happened more than once.