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50-784: The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska ( NPRA ) is an area of land on the Alaska North Slope owned by the United States federal government and managed by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It lies to the west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge , which, as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service managed National Wildlife Refuge , is also federal land . At
100-412: A V0-rated, gas-tight seal that cement cannot provide. Some abandoned wells are subsequently plugged and the site is remediated; however, the cost of such efforts can be in the millions of dollars. In this process, tubing is removed from the well, and sections of wellbore are filled with cement to isolate the flow path between gas and water zones from each other, as well as from the surface. The wellhead
150-429: A manner which will assure the maximum protection of such surface values to the extent consistent with the requirements of this Act for the exploration of the reserve." The Teshekpuk Lake Special Area was created to protect migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. The Colville River Special Area was created to protect the arctic peregrine falcon, which at that time was an endangered species. The Utukok River Uplands Special Area
200-702: A number of impacts drilling has on the North Slope environment. These include: Alaska North Slope The Alaska North Slope is the region of the U.S. state of Alaska located on the northern slope of the Brooks Range along the coast of two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean , the Chukchi Sea being on the western side of Point Barrow , and the Beaufort Sea on the eastern. With
250-463: A shallow land well to millions of dollars for an offshore one. Thus the burden may fall on government agencies or surface landowners when a business entity can no longer be held responsible. Orphan wells are a potent contributor of greenhouse gas emissions , such as methane emissions , contributing to climate change . Much of this leakage can be attributed to failure to have them plugged properly or leaking plugs. A 2020 estimate of abandoned wells in
300-630: A size of 23,599,999 acres (95,506 square kilometres; 36,875 square miles), the NPRA is the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the United States. Iñupiat live in several villages around its perimeter, the largest of which is Utqiaġvik , the seat of the North Slope Borough . Due to the proximity of Inuit communities, drilling on the NPRA has sparked controversy revolving around the economic, ecological, and cultural importance of
350-601: Is cut off, a cap is welded in place and then the stub is buried as the land contours are restored. The primary method of plugging wells is through elastomer and cement plugs. Government-led campaigns to plug wells are expensive but often facilitated by oil and gas taxes, bonds, or other fees applied to production. Environmental non-profit organizations, such as the Well Done Foundation , also carry out well-plugging projects and develop programs alongside government entities. Oil and gas companies on public land in
400-467: Is done in the vicinity of an orphaned well it can cause breaches of poorly sealed or unsealed abandoned wells that possibly can contaminate local ecosystems. These orphaned wells can allow gas and oil to contaminate groundwater due to improper sealing. Orphan wells in Alberta, Canada are inactive oil or gas well sites that have no solvent owner that can be held legally or financially accountable for
450-688: Is not possible to determine. Once a well is abandoned, it can be a source of toxic emissions and pollution contaminating groundwater and releasing methane , making orphan wells a significant contributor to national greenhouse gas emissions . For this reason, several state and federal programs have been initiated to plug wells; however, many of these programs are under capacity. In states like Texas and New Mexico , these programs do not have enough funding or staff to fully evaluate and implement mitigation programs. North Dakota dedicated $ 66 million of its CARES Act pandemic relief funds for plugging and reclaiming abandoned and orphaned wells. According to
500-495: Is often difficult mechanically and expensive. Traditionally elastomer and cement plugs have been used with varying degrees of success and reliability. Over time, they may deteriorate, particularly in corrosive environments, due to the materials from which they are manufactured. New tools have been developed that make re-entry easier; these tools offer higher expansion ratios than conventional bridge plugs and higher differential pressure ratings than inflatable packers, all while providing
550-597: Is underfunded by at least several hundred million. The total estimate for cleaning up all existing sites is as much as $ 260 billion. Remediation is paid for through federal and provincial bailouts, a PPP violation. Though different jurisdictions have varying criteria for what exactly qualifies as an orphaned or abandoned oil well, generally speaking, an oil well is considered abandoned when it has been permanently taken out of production. Similarly, orphaned wells may have different legal definitions across different jurisdictions, but can be thought of as wells whose legal owner it
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#1732772274657600-540: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge . The entire coastal plain of Alaska has tremendous ecological importance with the densest concentration of birds in the Arctic. Under the North Slope is an ancient seabed, which now contains large amounts of petroleum . Within the North Slope, there is a geological feature called the Barrow Arch — a belt of the kind of rock known to be able to serve as a trap for oil. It runs from
650-601: The Government Accountability Office , the 2.1 million unplugged abandoned wells in the United States could cost as much as $ 300 billion. A joint Grist and The Texas Observer investigation in 2021 highlighted how government estimates of abandoned wells in Texas and New Mexico were likely underestimated and that market forces might have reduced prices so much creating peak oil conditions that would lead to more abandonment. Advocates of programs like
700-576: The Green New Deal and broader climate change mitigation policy in the United States have advocated for funding plugging programs that would address stranded assets and provide a Just Transition for skilled oil and gas workers. The REGROW Act, which is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act , includes $ 4.7 billion in funds for plugging and maintaining orphaned wells. The Interior Department has documented
750-760: The National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA), which was established by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 as an oil supply for the US Navy, though the presence of oil in the region had been known by American whalers for some time. It contains the bulk of Alaska's known petroleum until the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field was discovered (outside the NPRA) in 1968, followed by the Kuparuk River oil field in 1969. The petroleum extracted from
800-591: The Repsol blowout from an exploration well left residual pollution impacting the local Nuiqsut residents. Nuiqsut mayor Rosemary Ahtuangaruak expresses concern with oil extraction in the North Slope and how “communities in the Arctic are left to contend with the health impacts of pollution as well as the devastation that comes from dramatic changes to the land like sea ice melt, permafrost thaw, and coastal erosion.” Drilling has also sparked controversy from environmental groups due to its ecological impacts. Research has shown
850-903: The U.S. Geological Survey estimated 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Mississippian through Paleogene strata in the central North Slope of Alaska, which are undiscovered and technically recoverable. 69°03′28″N 152°51′46″W / 69.0578758°N 152.8628274°W / 69.0578758; -152.8628274 Abandoned wells Orphan , orphaned, or abandoned wells are oil or gas wells that have been abandoned by fossil fuel extraction industries . These wells may have been deactivated because had become uneconomic, failure to transfer ownerships (especially at bankruptcy of companies ), or neglect, and thus no longer have legal owners responsible for their care. Decommissioning wells effectively can be expensive, costing several thousands of dollars for
900-594: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2008 estimated that the amount of oil yet to be discovered in the NPRA is only one-tenth of what was believed to be there in the previous assessment, completed in 2002. The 2008 USGS estimate says the NPRA contains approximately "896 million barrels of conventional, undiscovered oil". The reason for the decrease is because of new exploratory drilling, which showed that many areas that were believed to hold oil actually hold natural gas. The estimates of
950-539: The Willow Project , allowing leases for oil company ConocoPhillips to drill on the NPR-A. The project approval came after Biden established he would not allow more drilling on federal lands, making some supporters angry, while others had been pushing for the project’s approval. Willow Project development will include the construction of a gravel mine, hundreds of miles of roads, pipelines, and a facility for processing
1000-669: The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act (NPRPA) renamed the reserve the "National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska" and transferred it from the Navy to the Department of the Interior . The 1980 Interior Department Appropriations Act directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) within the Department of Interior to conduct oil and gas leasing. Nevertheless, the area was left essentially as a wilderness until
1050-562: The North Slope and are impacted by both the effects of past drilling projects and the threat of future projects. The community of Nuiqsut , which is majority Iñupiat, has found oil extraction hinders their subsistence practices. This threatens their cultural ties to the land. Oil extraction also results in degradation of the region’s air quality. Local communities including the Utqiagvik have faced impacts from petroleum spills such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination. In 2012
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#17327722746571100-744: The Northeast and in 2006 the Bush administration attempted to lease land in the habitat around Teshekpuk Lake. Six conservation groups sued to prevent the leases and won. The litigation forced BLM to create a new plan for the entire reserve. The final ROD for the entire region, including the South, was signed by the Secretary in February 2013. As of October 2012, a total of 1,374,583 acres (556,274 ha) have been leased; 872,125 acres (352,936 ha) in
1150-472: The Northeast area, the Secretary of Interior signed a Record of Decision (ROD), which opened 87 percent of this area to oil and gas leasing and the first leases were signed in 1999. A ROD for the Northwest area was signed in 2004. BLM began the planning process for the South in 2005. The 2003 USGS survey had indicated the best prospects for large reserves were just east of Teshekpuk Lake - a Special Area in
1200-535: The Northeast region, and 502,458 acres (203,338 ha) in the Northwest region. In March 2012, the Alaska House and Senate passed legislation urging the Bureau of Land Management to plug the abandoned wells from the US government exploratory program; the resolution said just seven wells have been properly plugged and reclaimed and that the wells are an eyesore and are harming the environment. An assessment by
1250-539: The Prudhoe Bay Oil Field and neighboring reserves is also a potential source for unconventional tight oil and shale gas – possibly containing "up to 2 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil and up to 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to a 2012 U.S. Geological Survey report." Alaska North Slope (ANS) is a more expensive waterborne crude oil. Since 1987, Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude production has been in decline. As of 2020,
1300-514: The Secretary created the Kasegaluk Lagoon Special Area. Between 1944 and 1981, the US government drilled and then abandoned about 137 wells in the reserve as part of an exploratory oil and gas program in order to obtain estimates and locations of reservoirs. BLM operates the abandoned wells . In 1998, after BLM had gone through a planning process to create an "Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement" for
1350-497: The Teshekpuk Herd calves in the areas surrounding Teshekpuk Lake. The highest concentration of grizzly bears in Alaska's Arctic, as well as wolverines, and wolves prey on the abundant caribou. The caribou are utilized for subsistence hunting by local hunters. The area is also a habitat for maternal denning of polar bears in the winter. Denning and the associated habitat is essential for newborn cub development. NPRA contains
1400-402: The United States must post financial assurance to cover the cost of plugging wells if they go bankrupt or cannot plug the well themselves. The current financial assurance requirement, which has been in place for 60 years, is $ 10,000 per well. This is significantly less than the cost of plugging a well, ranging as high as $ 400,000. Thus many federal oil and gas leases have a bond that cannot cover
1450-533: The United States was that methane emissions released from abandoned wells produced greenhouse gas impacts equivalent to three weeks of US oil consumption each year. The scale of leaking abandoned wells is well understood in the US and Canada because of public data and regulation; however, a Reuters investigation in 2020 could not find good estimates for Russia, Saudi Arabia and China—the next biggest oil and gas producers. However, they estimate there are 29 million abandoned wells internationally. Abandoned wells have
1500-554: The Willow Project because, it creates many jobs and a source of revenue. Doreen Leavitt, Director of Natural Resources for Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope describes the Willow Project as an economic “lifeline” for North Slope communities. Opponents counter argue that the economic benefits will only be viable in the short-term while the environmental consequences will be long-term. Native Alaskan communities reside on
1550-604: The amount of undiscovered natural gas in the region also fell, from "61 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, conventional, non-associated gas" in the 2002 estimate, to 53 trillion cubic feet (1,500 km) in the 2010 estimate. Oil and gas leases are authorized under the National Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976. ConocoPhillips was issued leases in 1999. On March 13, 2023 the Biden Administration approved
National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska - Misplaced Pages Continue
1600-629: The bottom of the Landsat 7 image on the right, the rugged terrain of the Brooks Range mountains is snow-covered in places (blue areas) and exposed (pink areas) in others. Much of the region is located politically in North Slope Borough , and geographically in the Alaska North Slope basin . On August 12, 2018, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit the region, the most powerful recorded for the Alaskan North Slope. The region includes
1650-587: The city of Utqiaġvik to a point just west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Ira Harkey quotes Noel Wien as stating that in the 1920s, "To keep warm and to cook with, the Eskimo was burning hunks of dark stuff he just picked up on the ground all around his tent. This was oil from seepage under the tundra. The Eskimos had always known about the oil, long before there was any drilling for it." The North Slope region includes
1700-431: The cost of cleanup. New rules related to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will increase the financial assurance requirement to a minimum of $ 150,000 per well. This will help ensure that oil and gas companies have the financial resources to plug wells if they can no longer do so themselves. Unused wells, especially from natural gas might be used for carbon capture or storage. However, if not sealed properly, or
1750-446: The decommissioning and reclamation obligations to ensure public safety and to address environmental liabilities. The 100% industry-funded Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)—the sole regulator of the province's energy sector—manages licensing and enforcement related to the full lifecycle of oil and gas wells based on Alberta Environment Ministry requirements, including orphaned and abandoned wells. Oil and gas licensees are liable for
1800-546: The densest concentration of birds in the Arctic, along with housing substantial amounts of large mammals such as whales, walrus, seals, caribou, and moose. The region includes the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as well as the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA). Within the North Slope, only a surface "active layer" of the tundra thaws each season; most of the soil is permanently frozen year-round. On top of this permafrost , water flows out to sea via shallow, braided streams or settles into pools and ponds. Along
1850-464: The economic limit is increased, the useful life of the well is shortened and proven oil reserves are lost. Conversely, when the financial limit is lowered, the life of the well is lengthened. When the economic limit is reached, the well becomes a liability if not abandoned . At the economic limit, a significant amount of unrecoverable oil is often left in the reservoir. It might be tempting to defer physical abandonment for an extended period, hoping that
1900-456: The exception of the highway connecting Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay , the region is disconnected from the rest of the Alaskan road system and relies mostly on waterways and small airports for transportation due to the Brooks Range secluding the region from the rest of the state. The entire Arctic coastal plain of Alaska with its Arctic coastal tundra has tremendous ecological importance with
1950-631: The greatest population of aquatic birds out of any major Arctic wetland. The NPRA is a more populated habitat for aquatic bird populations than the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, with a population of 5.4 million compared to 0.4 million. The NPRA supports more than a half million caribou of the Western Arctic and Teshekpuk Caribou Herds. The Western Arctic Herd calves in the Utukok, Kokolik and Colville uplands, while
2000-546: The headwaters and much of the Colville River , Alaska's largest river north of the Arctic Circle . The region's geology is unique in Alaska and most of the area remained glacier free throughout the last ice age. The NPRA was created by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 as Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 4 during a time when the United States was converting its Navy to run on oil rather than coal . In 1976
2050-606: The land. The NPRA is an ecologically very important area for arctic wildlife ; For birds, it has been called " Heathrow at the top of the world". The NPRA is an ecologically very important area, and human settlements are small and rare. For birds, it has been called "Heathrow at the top of the world" with more birds in the NPRA than in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge . It contains Teshekpuk Lake , an important nesting ground for many species of migratory birds , including shorebirds and waterfowl. The NPRA supports
National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska - Misplaced Pages Continue
2100-414: The late 1990s. The NPRPA also contains provisions that apply to any exploration or production activities within areas "designated by the Secretary of the Interior containing any significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife, or historical or scenic value". Based on this authority, the Secretary in 1977 designated three Special Areas within the NPRA in which all activities were to "be conducted in
2150-650: The oil price will increase or that new supplemental recovery techniques will be perfected. In these cases, wells are merely shut in, or temporary plugs may be placed downhole. There are thousands of "temporarily abandoned" wells throughout North America, waiting to see what the market will do before permanent abandonment. However, lease provisions and governmental regulations often require quick abandonment; liability and tax concerns also may favor abandonment. Theoretically, an abandoned well can be re-entered to restore production (or converted to injection service for supplemental recovery or downhole hydrocarbon storage), but reentry
2200-426: The oil. This development will occur in the Arctic tundra and wetlands. Due to the disruption to the North Slope environment, it has incited a legal battle from environmental groups opposing drilling. Alaskan communities also heavily rely on the oil industry for local economies. Debates over whether to welcome oil development into the community or not have caused divide. Numerous Iñupiat members have voiced support for
2250-409: The potential to contaminate land, air and water, potentially harming ecosystems, wildlife, livestock, and humans. For example, many wells in the United States are situated on farmland, and if not maintained could contaminate soil and groundwater with toxic contaminants. A well is said to reach an "economic limit" when revenue from production does not cover the operating expenses, including taxes. If
2300-780: The region is transferred south by means of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System to Valdez on the Pacific Ocean . In 2005 the USGS estimated that the Arctic Alaska Petroleum Province, encompassing all the lands and adjacent Continental Shelf areas north of the Brooks Range-Herald arch (see map) held more than 50 billion bbl of oil and natural-gas liquids and 227 trillion cubic feet of gas. The source rock for
2350-492: The responsible and safe closure and clean-up of their oil and gas well sites under the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) as a legal asset retirement obligation (ARO). An operator's liability for surface reclamation issues continues for 25 years following the issuance of a site reclamation certificate. There is also a lifelong liability in case of contamination. Once the current environmental legislation
2400-562: The storage site is not sufficiently sealed, there is a possibility of leakage. A 2014 study in China evaluated the use of abandoned wells for geothermal power generation. A similar study followed in 2019 for natural gas wells. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracture treating or fracking, is the process of fracturing bedrock with pressurized liquids. This creates cracks in rock formations that allow natural gas , petroleum , and brine to flow more effortlessly. When hydraulic fracturing
2450-751: Was created to protect critical habitat for caribou of the Western Arctic Herd. The Secretary of the Interior enlarged the Teshekpuk Lake and Colville River Special Areas in the Northeast NPRA Record of Decision of 1998. In 2003, a committee of the National Research Council published a report that urged caution in granted oil and gas leases, in that that oil and gas extraction in the reserve may cause permanent and irreversible environmental damage. In 2004,
2500-971: Was in place, and the industry-led and industry-funded Orphan Wells Association (OWA), was established in 2002, some orphan wells became the OWA's responsibility. OWA's Inventory does not include legacy wells which are more complex, time-intensive and costly to remediate. Following the 2014 downturn in the global price of oil, there was a "tsunami" of orphaned wells, facilities, and pipelines resulting from bankruptcies. As of March 2023, oil and gas companies owe rural municipalities $ 268 million in unpaid taxes; they owe landowners "tens of millions in unpaid lease payments". Original owners of what are now orphan wells "failed to fulfill their responsibility for costly end-of-life decommissioning and restoration work"; some sold these wells "strategically to insolvent operators". Landowners suffer both "environmental and economic consequences" of having these wells on their property. OWA funding
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