Inactive oil and gas wells remain an intractable problem in Alberta, but a report released this week suggests the solution could involve imposing a time limit on how long a well can sit idle, much as Texas and North Dakota have done.
The province is dotted with old wells, more than 150,000 in varying degrees of decline.
Some have been orphaned, meaning their owners are out of business and can't clean up the problem; tens of thousands more have been abandoned and plugged with concrete, but not fully reclaimed; and more than 80,000 are inactive, meaning no more oil or natural gas is being produced, but the wells haven't been plugged and could possibly be brought back to life.
An economist at the University of Calgary has produced a report that tries to calculate what it would take to get those wells back to work. The report found that even if oil prices were to increase by 200%, only 12% of the inactive wells would be brought back into production.
In the United States, there are no jurisdictions that allow inactive wells to sit indefinitely. In Texas, the limit is six months, although companies can apply for unlimited extensions. In North Dakota, which does not have an abandoned well problem, the limit is 12 months and companies can apply for just one extension of up to two years.
Inactive wells are regulated by the Alberta Energy Regulator. However, the AER has said that time limits are not under its control, but are the responsibility of the provincial government.
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