Report: Kansas’ $1 billion well cleanup shortfall

Colter Robinson
·2 min read

KANSAS (KSNT) – More than 450,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled in Kansas. Now, those wells are creating a $1 billion cleanup shortfall, according to ProPublica.

A flare to burn methane from oil production is seen on a well pad near Watford City, North Dakota, Aug. 26, 2021.
A flare to burn methane from oil production is seen on a well pad near Watford City, North Dakota, Aug. 26, 2021.

Have you ever wondered what happens with old abandoned oil derricks in Kansas? Many oil wells were never properly plugged off, leaving potential environmental consequences up to a century later, according to the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). Many wells weren’t documented and have been buried or overgrown, making them hard to find.

In New Mexico, companies need to provide a bond worth a maximum of $250,000, no matter how many wells they have. The New Mexico Oil Conservation Division can request additional bonds to cover the risk of idle wells, according to the ProPublica report.

In Kansas though, companies only need to pay a flat $100 annual fee instead of setting aside a bond. With seven out of eight companies in the state paying the flat fee, only $13 in bonds is left for each of the state’s 150,000 unplugged wells, according to the ProPublica report.

“The state’s estimated cleanup costs — which experts said may be low — would mean the state faces about a $1 billion shortfall between the bonds and plugging costs,” the ProPublica report said.

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To determine if there’s a shortfall, ProPublica looked at how many wells are unplugged, how much money companies set aside in bonds and how much it costs to plug a well.

Field data from four Conservation Division Districts puts the average cost to plug a well at $10,739. Price discrepancies between districts are typically due to well depth with deeper wells requiring more effort to plug, according to the KCC.

In 2023, 453 plugging operations were approved in Kansas and all projects were completed. Last year KCC Conservation Division Director Ryan Hoffman said there are more abandoned wells needing plugs than federal funds can provide.

To read more about Kansas’ efforts to plug abandoned wells, click here.

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