New Oil & Gas Well Plugging Rule in West Virginia Drops Requirement to Remove Casing

    On July 10, a new rule will go into effect in West Virginia, removing the requirement to remove surface and/or intermediate well casing before plugging the well and the requirement to have 4.5-inch casing in the well before plugging. Governor Patrick Morrisey explained:

"This will provide operators with greater flexibility, especially when dealing with older wells in poor structural condition."

"Abandoned and orphan wells can pose a significant threat and safety risk and can potentially impact surface and groundwater drinking water sources, land and air quality."

     According to the bill itself:

“NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the requirement that a four and one-half casing for modern or later-day wells is used, and to eliminate of the removal of intermediate or surface casings for non-modern or older wells, so long as other requirements are met.”

     If it helps wells to get plugged effectively, as it is meant to do and seems like it will do, this is a smart change that will result in lower-cost plugging ops and more wells getting plugged.

“House Bill 3336 allows abandoned and orphaned wells in the state to be plugged by piercing the casing of the well and filling it with cement instead of removing the entire infrastructure of the well, which was previously required under state law.”

“The new methods for plugging wells will give the state Department of Environmental Protection more “flexibility to adapt to real-world conditions,” said DEP Secretary Harold Ward. The method has been “successfully tested in the field” under a pilot project run by the DEP, according to a news release. Officials at Thursday’s briefing said they’re hopeful that enacting a less burdensome plugging method will allow wells to be plugged quicker using less money.”

     State and federal money is used extensively to plug wells, although there is some beginning funding coming from carbon markets that pay for emissions reduction credits due to plugging wells that are leaking methane. Companies looking for carbon offsets may buy such emissions reduction credits. Biden’s Infrastructure and IRA funding sparked a resurgence in well-plugging. The state provides roughly 10-15% of funding, with the federal government funding roughly 85-90% of plugging. Thus, well plugging is largely funded by the feds while also providing support for the state oil & gas program, which collects permitting fees and other fees.  

     With 21,000 abandoned wells counted in the state, it would take about 100 years to plug them all at the current rate of plugging, with current levels of BIA and IRA federal funding. The new rule may decrease that to 90 years, but that is just a guess. It is also unlikely that the current level of funding will be sustained. However, wells in need of plugging are often prioritized by condition, whether they are leaking hydrocarbons, brine, and/or methane. 

   

  

 

References:

 

WESTVIRGINIA LEGISLATURE 2025 REGULAR SESSION. Introduced House Bill 3336  By Delegates Zatezalo, Anderson, Fehrenbacher, and Street. [Introduced March 13, 2025; referred to the Committee on Energy and Public Works. hb3336 intr.pdf

WV law changes standards for plugging abandoned oil wells. Nadia Ramlagan. Public News Service. May 27, 2025. WV law changes standards for plugging abandoned oil wells

Morrisey ceremoniously signs bill to update plugging methods for abandoned oil and gas wells in WV: The state is home to more than 21,000 abandoned or orphaned wells, but only about 200 are currently being plugged annually. Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch. May 15, 2025. Morrisey ceremoniously signs bill to update plugging methods for abandoned oil and gas wells in WV • West Virginia Watch