I don't know about idle, but Plugs has had stripped gears for decades.
Posted on 09/15/2010 4:45:33 PM PDT by epithermal
Oil and gas companies must permanently plug thousands of Gulf of Mexico wells idle for five years or more under a federal order issued Wednesday.
The mandate could cost well owners billions of dollars, but it could also create jobs for rig workers idled by a federal clampdown on new offshore exploration.
The U.S. Interior Department and its offshore-drilling oversight agency said companies must cement 3,500 wells that aren't producing oil or gas. Another 650 oil and gas platforms must be dismantled if they are no longer being used, the government said. The mandate becomes effective Oct. 15.
Companies will have 120 days to submit plans to decommission production facilities and wells. Under the regulation, any well that has not been used during the past five years for exploration or production must be plugged. Production platforms and pipelines must be decommissioned if no longer in use.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I doubt it.
The economy stinks (and will for years to come) and petroleum is in vast oversupply.
I can see it now, the next spill will be caused by them trying to plug one that was fine to begin with.
no the companies will “reactivate the well” and then shut it down.
what is an active well? enough crew? pump out 1 gal water?
If the Einsteins want to mandate something, they should ban the importation of enemy oil, including Arab, Venezuela, China and Russia.
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE PING!! please ping your lists and email your friends. This has to be stopped..it’s national suicide!
(snip)
“Owners of such wells would have to pay for the permanent sealing of the wells and abandon the opportunity of reopening them for production.”
“Oil and gas companies often close wells temporarily with valves or cement, but such plugs are designed so that the wells can be reopened later. Once a well is permanently plugged, however, it is almost impossible to restart production if technological advances or rising prices justify renewed activity.”
This is actually a national security threat folks! it has to be stopped and NOW!!
Instead of sealing these wells, what is to stop them from from putting them into production for a limited amount of time then shutting them down for another 5 years.
What does the government know about oil wells and oil production?
This is a Sustein ‘shove’ folks. It’s outrageous and dangerous for our country’s national security. I don’t care what the boys on Wall Street say..they just want to make some money in this god awful Obama depression. This is national suicide though.
I don't know about idle, but Plugs has had stripped gears for decades.
Bingo. “Janice, print out a list of the wells we haven’t used for four years.”
Whatever of the treasonous in the Regime is responsible for this is merely doing the bidding of Soros.
Wells refill from below, as is occurring in Texas. Those wells will be useful after years pass and oil rises from below where it is being formed.
Put them back into operation and use the output to fill to the brim our strategic reserves. I don’t know if they’re full right now, but if not, it would be a great way to get several things accomplished at one time.
I would seriously doubt the wisdom of permanently disabling that many wells that could be of vital importance in the event something happens to our usual supply.
Something is terribly wrong with our system when a government agency can issue a rule or regulation, or an order, that mandates private companies do something that deprives them of an investment.
Seems to be a push coming from the EPA to plug abandoned water wells across the country as well. Funny thing is that they suggest some kind of fly ash gout as a better alternative to concrete. Meanwhile they’ve banned the dumping of fly ash into the great lakes as a pollutant.
The EPA are a bunch of morons.
Everyone needs to read the snips in my other post. Once they ‘permanently plug’ these wells, like they are being ordered to do..they are almost impossible to re-open. Here is a scenario for you: The middle east blows up with a war to stop the nukes in Iran. Gas goes through the roof..Hormez Straights are blocked. Obama lets his minions all have free gas from the Strategic oil reserve(like Gore did) and our military runs out of gas to run the war. Now we can’t open up the wells in the gulf for national security and our military. Sound far fetched? Not hardly.
This actually scares the hell out of me..It has to be stopped.
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
“The EPA are a bunch of morons.”
And the ones that aren’t just run of the mill morons are strategic communist enemies of this country. This is either horrifying stupidity or a treasonous trap. Especially with a looming war in Iran plus Obama and the democrats willingness to empty our Strategic Oil Reserves for their minions if gas goes up. We might be left with no ability to prosecute a war or run our economy at all. This is just about the scariest thing these people have done imho.
This is a vile attempt to destroy American oil production.
Many of these wells *could* produce oil, but aren’t doing so because they cannot do so at a profit, with cheap foreign oil. But if the price of foreign oil goes up, these wells could be put back on line.
But if they are sealed up with concrete, they become worthless.
Compare this to a rancher who raises cattle for beef. If the price of beef is low, there is no reason for him to butcher more than a minimal number of head. But if the price of beef gets high, then he will butcher more cattle.
Then the government steps in and says, “unless you are butchering cows this year, you have to kill them, because they could escape your ranch and make problems.”
Say what? How incredibly stupid is that? But in effect, it would put the rancher out of business. Which is what the government is planning on doing to Gulf oil production. To shut it down for good.
UNless I knew the well was worthless, if I were a company, I’d just bring it into production for a while and then shut it down, resetting the 5-year window.
It’s got to be cheaper than what the administration is asking.
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