Can you give me some idea of what the costs are to 'Plug' a Gas Well? What all is involved that would accrue to the individuals that drilled the Well?
The Well is approximately 3000-4000 deep and was drilled about 20 years ago.
Dear Mr. Gohmert,
The average for onshore Texas and all of Oklahoma for calendar year 2010 was right at $25000. That does not include surface clean up or restoration. The jury may still be out on plugging cost averages for horizontal wellbores. With the depth of your well, the cost could easily be less than $10K.
Generally the process consists of setting a bridge plug in place (mechanical plugging) ant then topping it with cement. The other way is to pour cement plugs at preset intervals.
The plugging procedure is a strict cost loss so the operator will do the minimum required by the state agency to conform to their standards. In the good old days, this operation was referred to as putting on a Halliburton Christmas Tree.
The working interest owners are responsible for plugging the well and in Texas must have a bond or blanket letter of credit before they drill, so that there will be no more orphan wells (wells unplugged). The amount of the bond increases with the number of wells that the operator is operating. I do not know when the bond requirement was enacted, but I think that it was mid 1990's. Don't hold me to it.
Prior to plugging the well, the Railroad Commission of Texas (if the well is located in Texas) will issue the plugging instructions on downhole procedures such as perforation stages, etc. Rules for plugging are also in place which require specific weights on the cement being used.