MRP 351: Orphan Wells Update: State-by-State Results From Federal Funding

Congress set aside about $4.7 billion to plug abandoned oil and gas wells, but by the end of 2025 only about 40% of it had gone out, and states had plugged just over 10,000 of the roughly 140,000 documented orphan wells. In this update, Justin Williams and I look at the results state by state, whether the money was well spent, and what you can do if an orphan well is on or near your minerals. As always, links to the resources mentioned in this episode can be found in the show notes at mineralrightspodcast.com.