Diversified Energy is Dominating with “Orphaned” Gas Wells
The WV Surface Owners Rights Organization supports the plugging of abandoned & orphaned oil & gas wells
From a Letter by Jim Kotcon to Dominion Post, Sunday, December 11, 2022
The Nov. 26 article regarding well plugging by Diversified Energy is a welcome turn-around. The article correctly indicated that significant new funding to close orphaned wells is available thanks to the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and that wells owned by existing companies are not “orphaned” but are the responsibility of the private businesses that own them.
One important issue is worth bringing to the attention of readers. More so than any other West Virginia company, Diversified has acquired so many old declining wells that its current rate of capping and plugging would require hundreds of years.
Over the last few years, it has acquired more of these old wells much faster than it is plugging non-producing ones, which means it keeps getting further and further behind. Thus, there is a real risk that Diversified may join the long list of companies that are bankrupt, dead and gone before all those old wells get capped, creating a large pool of “orphaned” wells that become the responsibility of the taxpayer.
That is why I hope that companies such as Diversified would support legislation to prevent more orphan wells from being created, so their plugging costs would not be passed on to the taxpayer.
The Orphan Well Protection Act would require adequate bonding in an escrow account to assure that, even if large companies go bankrupt, West Virginia taxpayers will not be on the hook to pay the business expenses of a private company. We know that existing orphaned wells will need to be plugged but let’s at least stop the situation from getting worse.
As the old saying goes: “If you find yourself stuck in a hole, stop digging!”
>>> Jim Kotcon, W.Va. Chapter of Sierra Club, Morgantown
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See Article from WVSORO ~ If you find out there is a proposal to plug an oil or gas well on your land, what should you do? – WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization