We are landowners (surface only) with a "Temporarily Abandoned " old vertical well on our property that apparently has not produced since Nov. of 2023. How long do we have to wait to approach the well’s owner to plug the well and return the site back to it’s original state. We do not think the well itself is being monitored in any way.
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What county is the well. If listed as abandoned, the state has control over the well. Because of the liability to the state it is monitored and inspected.
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It’s in Reeves County. It’s listed as “temporarily abandoned” with no production reported since November of 2023.
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This is a common problem. As long as some well is holding the lease, then the oil company can argue that it might reopen or remediate the well and put it back into production. RRC does not force the companies to plug these wells. And then if the lease is assigned to a company with no assets, then well becomes the problem of the state. I have seen nonproducing wells sitting for 20 years, so the wellbores have so degraded that they are unusable. But the lease or unit was still in effect. Then the lease was assigned to Company Zero and it disappeared or filed bankruptcy and now the wells sit on the state list, waiting to be plugged only when they are a total hazard. That said, you should feel free to contact the operator and ask about the well status and possibility of being plugged. And be sure to monitor the surface so you can file a complaint if the well starts to leak.
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I have another thought on this that will throw out for comment by those iwth more knowledge. We have many, many wells in our inventory, I keep these by two data bases, one is/are wells that are listed as AC Active by the corporation commission and one that is NOT ACTIVE for a number of reasons. Currently we have five wells that have not produced (zero product of any kind) for over five years, that are still listed as AC (Active). It is my understanding, that may be incorrect, that in Oklahoma, a well that is still AC holds leases if the original lease is not held BY PRODUCTION. So, in this thread the well in question, if the current owner plugs the well, they loose the lease that covers that well and if they drill deeper, and there is no depth clause in the lease, or if the mineral Owner is “Pooled” then that well holds the lease so they do not have to pay to drill the new well. Also, we have three wells that are listed on the Corporation Commission Web Site as INJECTION wells where they are disposing of drilling and fracking product. These wells go far below the water tables, and so the production company may not have any incentivie to plug the well, as it a new well is drilled (deeper) then the old well will become the Injection well. I ask that anyone (Mrs. Barnes) or others to comment on this post particuarly if my understandings are not correct.
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