Our Chair will start the day by providing context on the orphan and idle well landscape, highlighting current challenges, cross-state priorities, and opportunities for collaboration and innovation across the US Southwest.

Across the Southwest, the challenge of plugging orphan and idle wells has reached a critical juncture. Billions in federal funding have been deployed, new market-based mechanisms are emerging, and pressure is growing for scalable, lasting solutions. This opening session will take stock of where things stand today—from public dollars to reactivation pathways and carbon credits—and why the question of how we pay for plugging is more urgent than ever. Designed to frame the day’s conversations, this session offers a clear-eyed view of the current funding landscape and the trade-offs that come with each option.

This session explores how decommissioned oilfields in urban areas—particularly in Northern California—are being repurposed into public parks and community spaces. Focusing on low-income and historically disadvantaged neighborhoods, the discussion will highlight how wellsite conversion can support environmental justice, public health, and local economic revitalization. Learn how agencies and grassroots coalitions are using land reuse as a pathway toward community renewal.

Keynote Speaker to be announced soon 

Unrecorded wells present a serious obstacle to cleanup planning, especially in remote or overgrown regions. Emerging methods like drone-based imaging and vegetation pattern analysis are helping uncover wells that don’t appear in official inventories. These tools can identify visual and ecological indicators of past drilling activity, even when documentation is missing or unreliable.
This session will explore how remote survey methods are being applied to discover undocumented wells, and what their use could mean for prioritization and field verification across the Southwest.
 

While global ambitions for a meaningful energy transition continue to fade, delayed timelines, uneven capital deployment, and shifting investor sentiment are reshaping how legacy oil and gas assets—including orphan and idle wells—should be viewed and managed. This session will explore what the most recent energy transition metrics reveal about the pace of transition, and how that influences liability planning, and long-term asset retirement risk in the Southwest. 

Join our sponsors in welcoming you to our Networking Lunch

Selecting the right well for funding depends on access roads, permitting timelines, seasonal constraints, and the quality of historical data. With new tools and software helping operators assess these variables, understanding what funders look for is more important than ever. This session explores how to identify, evaluate, and present marginal and idle wells that meet evolving program criteria.

Join facilitated roundtable discussions on a topic of your choice — a chance to share feedback, identify key challenges, and help shape industry recommendations moving forward.

1. Rulemaking considerations for SB 1150--new Texas law to limit well plugging extensions
   The Texas Legislature recently imposed new limits for well plugging extensions for older wells and offered new options for these wells to qualify for a plugging extension. This roundtable provides a brief overview of the current law, its deficiencies, and provisions of the new law, including the new options for plugging extensions.
   Julie Range, Commission Shift

Offshore decommissioning presents a complex set of environmental, technical, and financial challenges. This session will delve into the latest strategies and best practices for managing offshore infrastructure end-of-life, focusing on sustainable decommissioning practices, regulatory requirements, and risk management. Gain insights into the innovative approaches that can help minimize environmental impact while maximizing the value of decommissioned assets.

Produced water injection is increasing subsurface pressure across many basins, raising new concerns about how these forces interact with unplugged or poorly plugged wells. In some cases, this pressure is contributing to fluid migration, threatening freshwater aquifers and causing surface breakthroughs. This session explores the hydrogeologic dynamics at play, the vulnerability of legacy wells, and the urgent need for better subsurface mapping and risk-based mitigation strategies.

From well inventories to environmental risks, this session examines the national orphan well picture with a lens on Texas as a case study. Attendees will hear about regulatory approaches, idle well trends, and innovations that could inform programs across the Southwest.

Orphan and idle well programs rely on collaboration—but too often, key voices are left out. This session explores how to better engage diverse stakeholders, including Indigenous communities, local governments, and underrepresented groups. We'll look at tools, technologies, and practical strategies that can strengthen trust and deliver better outcomes across the Southwest.

As interest grows in using carbon credits to fund orphan well plugging, the market is still catching up with credible, scalable methodologies. This session brings together leaders developing frameworks to turn well remediation into verified, tradable offsets. We'll explore what’s working, what’s missing, and how the Southwest could help shape the future of this emerging space.

The U.S. Geological Survey is building one of the most comprehensive national views of orphan and idle wells—bringing consistency to fragmented state-level data and helping inform smarter strategies on the ground. This session will explore recent findings from the USGS Orphan Wells Project, including regional trends, mapping tools, and the intersection of science and remediation planning.

Join our sponsors in welcoming you to our Networking Lunch

Learn how the U.S. Department of the Interior is strategically allocating federal funding to address orphan and idle wells. This session will explore interagency coordination, priority-setting strategies, and real-world results from funded projects.

This session explores how carbon markets can support the repurposing of orphan and idle wells, particularly through nature-based solutions and soil carbon sequestration. As demand for verified offsets grows, these sites present new opportunities for long-term environmental and economic value. The session will examine technical frameworks, market access, and the safeguards needed to ensure credibility and community benefit.

Join facilitated roundtable discussions on a topic of your choice — a chance to share feedback, identify key challenges, and help shape industry recommendations moving forward.

1. This roundtable will examine the dual challenge of methane emissions and the opportunity to repurpose orphan and idle wells for renewable energy applications
   Jade Boutot, McGill University
    

Stray gas migration poses serious risks to structures, groundwater, and public safety—particularly around legacy and orphaned wells. This session explores how isotope geochemistry, gas fingerprinting, and groundwater chemistry can be used together to identify gas sources, assess well integrity, and guide targeted mitigation.

Join a dynamic, open-format session with a group of our advisory board members. This is your opportunity to raise questions, revisit key insights, and explore pressing issues not yet covered in the agenda. Whether technical, regulatory, or strategic—bring your burning questions and take part in an unscripted, expert-led conversation.