A hearing in Austin

The Texas Railroad Commission goes before the House Energy Resources Committee on Tuesday to lay out how it will rewrite the rules for inactive oil and gas wells.

160,000 wells sitting idle

The commission oversees nearly 160,000 inactive wells. Each one is a candidate to become an orphan, meaning the operator has vanished or has been bankrupt for at least a year.

Who pays when they leak

Unattended wells can turn into conduits for oil and gas wastewater. The cleanups cause environmental damage and cost taxpayers tens of millions. At least 12,000 Texas wells are already orphaned.

The 15 year clock

SB 1150, from Sen. Mayes Middleton, requires operators to plug a well once it has been inactive for 15 years. Before the law, companies could extend that deadline forever.

Extensions blunt the deadline

Operators with a track record of plugging can still ask for more time, and so can those who say they cannot afford it. An approved request pushes the plugging date out to 2042.

“Based on the current legislation, the operators can keep these inactive for almost indefinitely.”

Bonds that cover almost nothing

Financial assurance runs $2 per foot of depth, or by well count: an operator with 10 wells posts just $25,000. Remediating a single well can run into the millions.

What experts want next

Industry and environmental voices both want change. The Permian Basin Petroleum Association backs shrinking the inactive pool, while the Environmental Defense Fund wants hard limits on who can get an extension.

“It is imperative that operators shrink the number of inactive wells.”