Join us for an opening session with the US Department of the Interior to understand federal funding allocations. 

• Learn about the strategic allocation of federal funding to best address pressing orphan and idle wells 
• Gain insights into the coordinated approach by federal agencies 
• Explore challenges, opportunities, and stories of success 

Explore the history of the Texas Railroad Commission’s state-managed plugging program, including state-managed program statistics, current Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) federally funded plugging project, and success stories.

• Scope of the challenge and examining the history of orphan wells across the nation.
• Understanding the role geology plays in orphan well emissions.
• Identifying resources available for planning effective well-plugging operations.
• Exploring the potential impacts orphan wells can have on groundwater aquifers and the effects groundwater geochemistry can have on orphan wellbores.

Join us for a legal overview of orphan and idle wells. Our esteemed speaker, John Holden, Partner at Jackson Walker LLP, will delve into contractual obligations, and emerging trends that are shaping the landscape of liability for these abandoned wells.

Key topics to be covered include:

• Who Bears the Burden? Exploring the complex question of liability for orphan and idle wells, including the roles of well owners, operators, and other stakeholders.
• Can Liability Be Transferred? Examining the potential for transferring liability between parties, and the legal implications of such transfers.

Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into the legal risks and responsibilities associated with orphan and idle wells.

• Explore long-term policies and solutions for decommissioning, monitoring, and redeveloping the estimated 2-3 million abandoned wells in the U.S., including over a million orphaned wells.
• Discuss the shift in oil and gas operations from drilling to filling or repurposing well sites as shale deposits shrink and states transition to cleaner energy.
• Present case studies of successful policies and programs for cleaning up abandoned sites using trust funds, such as the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Fund and Nuclear Decommissioning Trust (NDT) Funds.
• Address potential job creation from well decommissioning and related workforce development needs.
• Examine the development of fiscal policy solutions and new financial assurance approaches to support long-term well-decommissioning efforts.
   

Orphan wells can be significant sources of methane emissions and accurate detection, and quantification of these emissions is crucial for effective mitigation efforts. Xplorobot has developed a cost-effective solution tailored for measuring methane emissions, in accordance with the United States Department of Interior regulations. The Xplorobot Laser OGI device meets the DOI's 1-gram-per-hour detection threshold and provides emission quantification capabilities. This presentation will showcase field deployments in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Ohio, illustrating the efficacy and versatility of our solution.

The objective of this panel is to discuss some of the lessons learned and challenges in the Grant Development and Implementation Grant process under the DOI Tribal Orphan Well Program. Topics to be discussed:
Tribe Capacity and Development. Community Outreach.

• Development of Tribe Orphan Well Program Organization and Implementation Work Plans
• Tribe database and GIS capabilities
• Tribe field oversite capabilities

Coordination with multiple agencies and organizations to find existing records and well/infrastructure abandonment approval. 

• Regulatory records and actual site conditions do not agree.

Process for getting large number undocumented shut-in/abandoned wells qualified for Orphan Well Grant 

• Finding Surface and Sub-Surface owner/lease documents
• Determining if a financially solvent responsible party exists.

Limited venders qualified to work on Indian Reservations. Higher cost associated with conducting work activities on Indian Reservations.

In this session, we will explore the opportunities and challenges with using carbon credits for plugging orphan wells.

• Discuss the basics, benefits, and regulatory processes for using carbon credits.
• Apply successful case studies of carbon credit-funded well-remediation projects.
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of carbon credits as a tool for well-remediation projects.
• Analyse how carbon credits are received by the market and how broad of a solution they may be. 

Join us for interactive afternoon round tables where we will delve into case studies, lessons learnt and tailored industry updates.  Each roundtable has a unique topic, and attendees can select the roundtable of their choice. Bring your questions and feedback! Each roundtable will develop 3 -5 industry recommendations which will be shared with the whole audience, and summarized in the post-event report.

• Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement Challenges
  Speaker: Mark Hamzat O Erogbogbo, Texas Star Alliance Energy Solutions
• Modifying the options for inactive well plugging extensions to reduce future populations of unplugged wells
  Speaker: Virginia Palacios, Commission Shift
• Carbon Credit Certification and Verification Processes
  Speaker: Brad Handler, Program Lead, Sustainable Finance Lab, Payne Institute for Public Policy
• Economic Incentives for Operators to Prevent Orphan Wells
  Rey “RT” Trevino III, Pecos Country Operating
• Case Studies and Lessons Learned from Successful Reclamation Projects
  Speaker: Ted Boettner, Senior Researcher, Ohio River Valley Institute

International, federal and state collaboration is required to address challenge areas for Well Closure Systems across the US. In this session, we will unpack the scope of the challenge, including: 

• Considering the economic, technical, and regulatory liabilities. 
• Assessing the appropriate length and depth of due diligence processes to comply with regulatory requirements.
• Working towards international collaboration to address the main challenges and explore opportunities to streamline future processes.

•    Oil Field History – Discuss what we can learn from the many players who have attempted to plug wells, success stories, and more. 
•    Carbon Market in 2024 - Review the new carbon protocol approved for the US compliance market. 
•    Methane Mitigation – Accelerating methane mitigation through sharing best practices
 

Join us for an opening session with the US Department of the Interior, where we will explore the general framework and development of the Regulatory Improve Grant (RIG) programs. We will walk through program development, lessons learned, and best practices for the program and plugging standards. And how they can benefit Orphan Well management in the US in 2024.

This session will describe recent updates to PRIMO: an open-source, optimization-based decision-support tool that is being developed in support of EPA & DOE’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP). PRIMO is designed to aid the broader emission mitigation community, with a particular focus on prioritizing wells for planning and optimizing Plugging and Abandonment (P&A) campaigns, and Project PRIMA – Undocumented Orphaned Well Characterization and Plugging Optimizer

• Learn about how much efficiency can be gained by using PRIMO and perhaps a successful case study showing the best practices in action
• Explore how PRIMO integrates data analytics, advanced algorithms, and optimization techniques to make data-based and transparent recommendations about well plugging. 
• Identify how PRIMO can effectively identify high-risk wells, forecast environmental impacts, and plan efficient and cost-effective abandonment strategies. 
• Review the details of a new interactive GUI and webapp that the team is developing and planning to make available to streamline operations for stakeholders.

Don't miss this especially beneficial presentation for stakeholders seeking advanced technological solutions to address the complex challenges of large-scale well abandonment and emissions reduction.

• Through the Lens of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) , we will explore the potential risks and impacts on ground and surface water from Orphan Wells.  Understand the development and evolution of the AAAS EPI Center Orphaned and Abandoned Wells (OAW) working group
• Review the AAAS’s report on the potential risks and impacts to ground and surface water 
• Evaluate best practices, recommendations and next steps for calculating the impact of Orphan and Idle Wells on water quality 

• Exploration of challenges in implementing carbon credit initiatives within oil and gas operations.
• Addressing measurement and verification (M&V) challenges, regulatory compliance, and financial risks.
• Practical insights, strategies, and best practices for overcoming barriers.
• Maximizing benefits of carbon credit programs.
   

• Discuss P&A costs based on data for 500+ orphaned wells
• Discuss methane emissions based on data from 800+ orphaned wells,
• Extrapolate P&A costs and potential emissions to unplugged Louisiana orphans and idle wells
• Explore how methane measurement influences achievable methane reductions, as well as key uncertainties
   

• Linking leakage rates to leakage pathways
• Variability of primary cementing outcomes
• Uncertainty and consequences – can we ever get it right?
• Repairing: squeeze cementing and how effective this is
• Strategies for reducing leakage

Key topics in this presentation include: 

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA): 

• Overview of the significance of the IRA for the industry
• Implications of the Methane Emissions Reduction Program for oil and gas operations

Methane Emissions Reduction Program:

• Details on the program's objectives and requirements and strategies for compliance and effective implementation

Oil and Gas Methane Monitoring & Mitigation:

• Current best practices in methane monitoring
• Collaboration between public and private sectors to achieve sustainability goals

In this discussion, we will review the changing landscape of stakeholders involved in orphan and idle well management. We will explore best practices for collaboration among private, public, and tribal ownership, as well as nonprofit organizations and other relevant parties.

The United States has a long history of oil and gas drilling, dating back to the mid-1800s. This presentation will give an overview of methane emissions in the United States, particularly from oil and gas sources. Additionally, we will delve into primary research on methane and harmful air pollutants originating from legacy wells and the supply chain, as well as other significant environmental impacts.

• Delve into an overview of the National Picture of orphan and idle wells across the Nation
• Review preliminary analytics on the Texas idle well population
• Participate in a robust discussion surrounding innovative and scalable solutions - from technological advancements to policy recommendations, we will explore viable strategies

Orphan and idle wells pose significant risks to human health if not properly managed.

This session will explore the potential health hazards associated with these abandoned wells, including direct health risks, indirect health risks, and environmental hazards and contamination.

This session will provide an overview of processes that lead to delayed plugging and analyze policy interventions that can ensure timely plugging across Texas. 

• Review maps of orphaned and inactive well counts in Texas alongside rates of plugging and orphaning
• Explore policy levers in Texas for reducing market failures in decommissioning
• Consider emerging risks (e.g. fraudulently plugged wells, carbon injection)