3 ms·
Serious question: Is it actually necessary to cap the wells? If you leave the machinery sitting on top of the well unused - does it leak anything? Can you just
by ars 3y ago
Serious question: Is it actually necessary to cap the wells? If you leave the machinery sitting on top of the well unused - does it leak anything?
Can you just leave it like that?
- iancmceachern 3y agoYes, many of these wells are under extremely high pressures and have more than oil in them (natural gas, methane, co2, etc). It's why you see the cliche scene of pil gushing out the top of a rig when they strike oil. It's not like a water well.
- refurb 3y agoMost of the LA wells were tapped out long ago. None of them are gushing oil.
- iancmceachern 3y agoWhy the specific focus on LA?
- refurb 3y agoBecause there was a ton of drilling and still a ton of oil wells there.
- iancmceachern 3y agoBut there is also a ton in Texas, Oklahoma, the whole gulf coast, on and on. So why just focus on LA?
- refurb 3y agoBecause the article is just about California and the laws around clean up? I have no idea what Texas does and the article doesn't cover it.
- stephen_g 3y agoNow it’s just the methane and worse gasses that they constantly leak (often including hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide, etc.). This article about capping them is quite informative: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/07/01/capping-methane-spewing-oil-wells-one-hole-time/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/07/01/...