Abandoned oil and gas wells provide a potential pathway for subsurface migration and emissions of methane and other fluids to the atmosphere. Little is known about methane fluxes from the millions of abandoned wells that exist in the United States. Here, we report direct measurements of methane fluxes from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, using static flux chambers. A total of 42 an...

Recent measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil/gas wells show that these wells can be a substantial source of methane to the atmosphere, particularly from a small proportion of high-emitting wells. However, identifying high emitters remains a challenge. We couple 163 well measurements of methane flow rates; ethane, propane, and n-butane concentrations; isotopes of methane; and nobl...

The aim of this work was to evaluate New York State's regulatory program for plugging inactive oil and gas wells. Analysis of reports from the Division of Mineral Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation, reveals that three-fourths of the state's abandoned oil and gas wells were never plugged. Inadequate enforcement efforts have resulted in steady increases of unplugged oil and gas w...

The influence of the ventilation system on the abandoned gob weakens, so the gas seepage characteristics in the abandoned gob are significantly different from those in a normal mining gob. In connection with this, this study physically simulated the movement of overlying rock strata. A spatial distribution function for gob permeability was derived. A numerical model using FLUENT for abandoned g...

The increased demand for oil and gas places a burden on lands set aside for natural resource conservation. Oil and gas development alters the environment locally and on a much broader spatial scale depending on the intensity and extent of mineral resource extraction. The current increase in oil and gas exploration and production in the United States prompted an update of the number of pipelines...

The casing deformation problems are presented over 36 wells (among 112 horizontal wells by 2016) during fracturing processes in Weiyuan-Changning shale gas play in China.1 Subsequent tools could be blocked in the wellbore.2–4 The segments with serious deformation had to be abandoned before completing fracturing operations.5 The casing deformation issues make a great influence on production of s...

Natural gas explosions and fire destroyed two businesses in downtown Hutchinson and two residents of a mobile-home park also died of injuries from explosions. Gas geyser eruptions spewing a mixture of natural gas and saltwater in the area forced the evacuation of hundreds of people. The pathways to the land surface at both the explosion sites and the geysers were abandoned brine wells used for ...