Legacy unplugged oil and gas wells are a major and under-recognized source of methane emissions in the United States. A 2024 study conducted in Colorado found that unplugged abandoned wells emit an average of 586 grams of methane per hour—nearly 75 times higher than the EPA’s previous national estimate.
When scaled across the estimated 3.4 million abandoned wells nationwide, the study projected 1.1 to 2.6 teragrams (Tg) of methane per year, equivalent to 22% to 49% of total methane emissions from active U.S. oil and gas production.
These findings suggest that national greenhouse gas inventories may be significantly underestimating the climate impact of the aging oilfield infrastructure. (1)
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential more than 80 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Unlike carbon dioxide, which persists in the atmosphere for centuries, methane’s impact is front-loaded — it traps heat quickly, driving near-term climate change.
Reducing methane emissions is one of the most effective ways to slow global warming in our lifetime. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that cutting methane emissions from fossil fuel operations could avoid 0.1°C of global temperature rise by mid-century, a meaningful contribution to keeping climate goals within reach.
For communities near aging oil and gas infrastructure, methane reduction has additional benefits: improved air quality, reduced explosion risk, and restored land use potential. Each well plugged prevents continuous leakage, turning an invisible source of harm into measurable environmental progress.
Every well plugged is more than a hole sealed. It represents a measurable reduction in methane emissions and a permanent gain for the climate.
As Peter Drucker once said, “What gets measured gets managed.”
Carbon markets make that measurement matter by turning verified impact into lasting value.
(1) Caulton et al., 2024, Science of the Total Environment
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