WorldWide Drilling Resource

Where Are They Now? Compiled by Amy White, Associate Editor, WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Over a million gas and oil wells were drilled in the U.S. before anyone really knew how to properly seal them. When the gas or oil was gone, wells were left behind with little thought of what would become of them in the future. Some have been l eft as open holes since the 1800s, while others were simply plugged with dirt and l ogs. In most cases, the risk is hidden, since hundreds of thousands of abandoned wells were never mapped. Adding to the confusion, many of the companies that drilled them are no longer operating. Before states can properly decommission old wells, they have to find them. With long histories of drilling, numerous boom-bust cycles, and vague or missing records, this can be a real challenge, but at l east one state - Oklahoma - is commited to cleanup. In 1993, the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board (OERB) started a mission to restore abandoned well sites free of charge f or landowners. State oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners voluntarily fund the effort. To date, the OERB has spent over $90 million restoring more than 14,500 abandoned sites, employing Oklahoma contractors along the way. An estimated 840 sites were restored across the state in 2014 alone. The OERB follows a four-step restoration process based on recognized environmental standards adapted to meet Oklahoma’s specific needs. Restoration teams offer both environmental and petroleum expertise. Common practices include: e Removing or burying lease roads and location pads. e Removing or burying equipment, concrete, trash, and debris. e Repairing erosion and saltwater “scars” left on the land. e Treating hydrocarbons and closing pits. The OERB takes its mission a step further by being proactive in protecting the environment from future consequences. Through a grant from the Department of Energy’s National Petroleum Technology Office in Tulsa, the organization developed a Lease Operations Guidance Document for the Bureau of Land Management outlining general guide- lines, practices, and essential components of oil and natural gas lease operations as they relate to protection and restoration of the surrounding land. Osage County differs from other counties in Oklahoma. Besides being the largest at 2304 square miles, it also shares borders with the Osage Nation reservation. The Osage purchased the land from the Cherokee in the 1870s, and in 1875, the U.S. government designated it as a reservation. Though the land was opened for settlement in 1907 when Oklahoma became a state, the Osage Nation retained the subsurface mineral rights - including oil. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission regulates oil and gas activity in all of the state’s counties, except Osage. Even so, the OERB said it is dedicated to restoring every county in Oklahoma. According to a statement by the OERB, “The oil and gas industry has always been the backbone of Oklahoma; and today, it’s the industry that’s employing tens of thousands of Oklahomans, providing money for education, and leading the way to energy independence.” The positive impact is seen not only in restored pastures, hillsides, and ponds, but also on the faces of landowners across the state. The organization is currently restoring two to three sites per day. Anyone with knowledge of an abandoned site needing help in Oklahoma is urged to register the locat ion at oerb.com/well-site-clean-up/register-a-site AFTER BEFORE Oklahoma oilfield in the early 1900s, courtesy of visitbartlesville.com 20 MAY 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®