House Bill 2303 funds the state’s oil/gas well plugging fund for another five years and won approval in the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services. The fund is administered by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission which prioritizes which abandoned wells will be plugged. Over the past five years, the Corporation Commission has underwritten the plugging of 972 wells.
Currently, the Corporation Commission has more than 650 wells on the list. Inspectors with the Commission identify orphaned wells through citizen complaints, lease inspections and bankruptcy filings according to Commission spokesman Matt Skinner. More than 400 wells are waiting to be put on the plugging list or they could be “adopted” by a responsible operator.
The Commission works with the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board to clean up the sites.
HB 2303 now heads to the House Appropriations and Budget committee.
