Researchers are using AI to identify undocumented orphaned oil and gas wells in the U.S., which pose environmental risks by potentially leaking chemicals and methane. By analyzing historical USGS maps, AI helps locate these wells, which are then verified using drones and sensors. This initiative, part of the CATALOG project, aims to improve detection and plugging of these wells to mitigate environmental hazards and reduce methane emissions.
A new study has found that there are over 14,000 old, unplugged wells in the Gulf of Mexico, which may cost more than $30 billion to plug. Nonproducing wells that haven’t been plugged now outnumber active wells in the gulf. Nearly 90 percent of the old wells were owned at some point in the past by giant oil companies known as the “supermajors,” including BP, Shell, Chevron and Exxon. Orphaned wells pose a risk of oil and other pollutants leaking into the ocean and smothering wetlands. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Biden signed into law in 2021 sets aside $4.7 billion to plug orphaned wells, both onshore and off.
