Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Plugs, Preferably in Bulk, Needed in Wyoming


Wyoming May Act to Plug Abandoned Wells as Natural Gas Boom Ends. (The New York Times, 12/24/2013)

This boom is over, for now.  Hundreds of abandoned drilling wells dot eastern Wyoming like sagebrush, vestiges of a natural gas boom that has been drying up in recent years as prices have plummeted. 

The companies that once operated the wells have all but vanished into the prairie, many seeking bankruptcy protection and unable to pay the cost of reclaiming the land they leased. Recent estimates have put the number of abandoned drilling operations in Wyoming at more than 1,200, and state officials said several thousand more might soon be orphaned by their operators.


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