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RRC Plans to Plug 1,800 Abandoned Wells, Clean Up 200 Abandoned Oil & Gas Sites in FY 23

The Commission has already started extending its success in FY 22 into the new fiscal year. RRC’s commissioners on Oct. 11 approved the State Managed Plugging and Site Remediation Workplan for Fiscal Year 2023, which includes an ambitious plan to plug 1,800 orphaned wells and clean up 200 abandoned oil and gas sites. The budgeted amount includes $45.25 million for the plugging effort and $10.7 million for site remediation. The plugging total includes a $25 million initial grant from the Department of the Interior to plug an additional 800 wells on top of 1,000 wells already in the agency’s goals set by the Texas Legislature. “During Fiscal Year 2022, the State Managed Plugging and State Managed Cleanup programs exceeded their performance measures by plugging 1,068 wells and closed 245 cleanup activities,” Keith May, the Project Manager for plugging program, told the commissioners. “This marks the sixth year in a row that these two programs have collectively exceeded their performance measure goals. We hope to make that seven years in a row.” Besides federal funds being distributed to states from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Chairman Wayne Christian noted that RRC’s plugging and cleanup efforts are financed via industry revenue, not taxpayer dollars. “The Railroad Commission of Texas and the fine people that work here are absolutely the example of how do things right and have set world standards on how to plug abandoned wells,” he said. “ And I guess as long as there is one out there, it’s our challenge to do it.”

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