Plugging Away at the Millions of Derelict Oil and Gas Wells in the US
Key takeaways
- Republish Most Popular California’s Battery Array Is as Powerful as 12 Nuclear Power Plants.
- Abandoning wells is a deliberate technique to pad marginal oil and gas operators’ profits by dodging cleanup costs.
- In 2023 the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that there are around 3.7 million abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells—AOOG for short—in the U.S., out of about 4 to 5 million that have been drilled since 1859.
Why this matters: environmental and climate reporting with long-term consequences.
Republish Most Popular California’s Battery Array Is as Powerful as 12 Nuclear Power Plants. Here’s What’s on the Horizon. As a Colorado Aquifer Runs Low, Dangerous Heavy Metals Threaten Rural Communities’ Drinking Water A New Enbridge Pipeline Spurs Opposition in Central North Carolina Fossil Fuels Plugging Away at the Millions of Derelict Oil and Gas Wells in the US The Well Done Foundation is remediating abandoned and orphaned fossil fuel wells that pollute water, soils and the atmosphere. But plugging a borehole can be even harder than drilling it. Story and photos by J. MattMay 10, 2026 Share This Article Republish OKMULGEE, Okla.—There are a few truisms in the oil and gas industry: It is crowded with prodigious egos, there is always a boom around the corner and some industry operators aren’t above walking away from their mess at played-out well sites.
Abandoning wells is a deliberate technique to pad marginal oil and gas operators’ profits by dodging cleanup costs. In December, for instance, the New Mexico attorney general sued three Texas oilmen, accusing them of selling more than 500 unproductive wells to shell companies created for the purpose of declaring bankruptcy to avoid remediation costs.
Many of the millions of wells left derelict throughout oil-producing states are abandoned, often unplugged and polluting, some with owners of record and others, orphans with no known owner responsible for cleaning them up. In 2023 the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that there are around 3.7 million abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells—AOOG for short—in the U.S., out of about 4 to 5 million that have been drilled since 1859.