3 ms·
Would it make sense to force new wells to pay a $500K deposit (can vary depending on size) to be held in escrow by the state/federal government in case of aband
by Bluecobra 3y ago
Would it make sense to force new wells to pay a $500K deposit (can vary depending on size) to be held in escrow by the state/federal government in case of abandonment?
- verall 3y agoGood luck putting up any barriers to natgas extraction in texas, even if it would make sense.
- dylan604 3y agoMake sense to whom? The human race, or the profit seeking oil tycoons and the government benefiting from them?
- jofer 3y agoThat's already required, fwiw. Yes even in Texas. It's not the full costs, in practice, and ownership often gets tricky, but there are regulations to the effect. You have to put up a bond to operate oil and gas wells in TX and many other cases. That bond is seized and supposedly used to properly plug and abandon wells if you fail to do so, but it's not always sufficient. Also, old infrastructure is really old. It's not things from 20 years ago. It's 50-100 years ago. The law requiring escrow or insurance (it has some holes) dates from the 70's. Finally, it often isn't done properly. Either way, there are a ton of improperly plugged and abandoned wells and other leaky infrastructure that goes undetected. The regulations you're describing have existed for a long time, but that's not enough to fix the full issue.
- Bluecobra 3y agoThanks for the informative reply. It’s a real shame that this has gone on for so long.