AP Exclusive: Gulf oil wells lingering with temporary seals
Five years after the Obama administration promised to move swiftly to permanently plug unused oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, even more shafts are lingering for longer periods with only temporary sealing, an investigation by The Associated Press shows.
[...] the rules let oil companies dodge either temporary or permanent sealing on active leases simply by filing plans to make use of the well eventually.
"The older it is, probably the more attention needs to be given to monitoring and maintaining it," said John Rogers Smith, a retired professor at Louisiana State University who also used to do engineering work for offshore wells in the oil industry.
Are ... people really paying attention to something that's sitting there doing nothing for five-plus years?
[...] these jobs cost more and take more time than temporary sealing, which also entails multiple seals but allows a smaller uppermost plug to be set 1,000 feet down from the mouth of the well.
Some owners, though, temporarily close wells for economic reasons: to wait for higher oil prices or better drilling technology.
Saucier's agency, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, released data to the AP saying that as of February, only 1,120 wells remained targets of its Idle Iron program to permanently plug wells.
Asked about the rules, federal regulators suggested that some permanent sealing jobs would be unwise, because cutters and explosives used to fully sever and bury wells may pose danger to nearby active wells.
Mike Dane, a vice president of the private Houston-based Fieldwood Energy, said in a statement that temporary seals act as "vital barriers necessary to ensure a well is safely abandoned," even without permanent abandonment.