Wyoming to speed orphan well plugging

Wyoming is preparing to accelerate a program to plug orphaned oil and gas wells. The accelerated program by the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission starts in the spring. But that will mean a higher conservation tax on energy producers. Orphaned wells are non-producing oil and natural gas wells that have been abandoned by their owners, who in many cases have gone out of business. Wyoming has about 1,200 orphan wells, most of them coal-bed methane wells in the Powder River Basin. Wyoming oil and gas supervisor Grant Black told energy producers in Casper that plugging would accelerate to reduce environmental risk. He said plugging the wells will cost on average $10 per foot. He didn't have an estimate of the program's entire cost.