Introduction to Decommissioning & Reclamation

Every well, no matter how successful, eventually reaches the point where it can no longer produce oil or gas economically. After the three stages of production are complete (primary, secondary, and tertiary or enhanced recovery), as much as 50% or more of the original hydrocarbons remain in the reservoir. But these hydrocarbons are increasingly expensive to extract. Once the cost of extraction exceeds the value of the resource, it’s no longer worth producing.

At this point, a company has two options: it can temporarily shut in the well if it expects that economic conditions will improve in the near future, or it can decommission the well and focus investments on more profitable wells.

The best strategy is to properly seal wells quickly when they stop producing economically. This isn’t always in an operator’s immediate economic interest, so a strong set of regulations has been developed to legally require everyone to do the right thing.

In this section we’ll go through what needs to be done to safely plug and abandon a well that has reached the end of its productive life.

Why It Matters

Decommissioning a well can be as important as the initial drilling and completion operations. Orphan, abandoned, and improperly plugged wells can produce a significant amount of methane directly into the atmosphere. As a conduit from the subsurface, these wells can also pose significant risks to future well drilling and completion operations, making the plugging and reclamation of oil and gas wells a final, but critical, component of the production cycle.

Learning Objectives

  • Recognize the lifecycle of oil and gas production including the surface facilities.
  • Identify the consequences of improperly abandoned wells.
  • Understand the main phases of the Decommissioning process.

Images: “Abandoned Gas Well Pump” by Steve Hillebrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service