OKLAHOMA CITY — A program that pays for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells is popular with state energy agencies in Republican strongholds years after it launched during the Biden administration.
The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law set aside $4.3 billion for state grants to plug so-called orphaned wells, with the bulk of the funds going to state oil and gas regulators. State officials gathered in Oklahoma City this week said they’re making tangible progress, moving past slowdowns that previously dogged the program.
The plugging program has been a rare occasion where conservative states were happy to work with a U.S. government initiative backed by former President Joe Biden. The goal is to address a major environmental problem that most oil-producing states face, and the federal program took into account the fact that most states already had their own plugging efforts.
“The benefit of that program has been the collaboration,” Tom Kropatsch, oil and gas supervisor at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said this week at a conference of state officials.
