Oil and gas producers today can own more than 100 wells in Oklahoma after paying the same surety amount as a small operator with fewer than 10. That could change a bill from Rep. Brad Boles (R-Marlow).
House Bill 1369 would create a tier for amounts paid to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) based on the number of wells owned by an operator starting in November 2025. The amount for those with up to 10 wells would remain at $25,000, while companies with 11 or more would start at $50,000 and cap at $150,000.
The proposed legislation has a version in the Senate, authored by Sen. Grant Green (R-Wellston).
“ What this bill is trying to do is help get more funding from industry if companies go out of business, so that we have a higher surety bond that goes back to the state, because the state has to take over these wells to plug them,” Boles said.
The lawmaker said in an email to StateImpact that current producers who paid $25,000 would have to comply with the new tiered structure should the legislation be implemented.
The discussion came about a month after the OCC submitted a document to the state legislature noting many wells have been stripped of parts and abandoned. The agency wrote Oklahoma’s low surety requirements and loopholes in existing statutes created an environment that allows a large number of wells to be bought by shell companies posing as oil and gas companies.
The two lawmakers also introduced a bill that would allocate more money to the OCC’s abandoned well-plugging fund. The agency uses funds from an excise tax on oil and gas producers to plug wells with no known owner in Oklahoma. House Bill 1370 would increase the percentage of money flowing to the fund from petroleum oil and natural gas production, capping it at $20 million.
“Right now, this fund generates about two to three million dollars a year depending on activity, the price of oil and gas, and so we're trying to beef up this fund more,” Boles said.
Oklahoma has more than 20,000 abandoned oil and gas wells posing threats to the surrounding environment and human health. The wells are known to leak methane, a hazardous gas contributing to rising global temperatures.
“Our list is getting bigger every year than the previous year,” Boles said. “So, we're actually adding more to the list than what we're taking off each year. If we can get this bill passed, we think we can maybe plug up to 1,000 wells per year.”
The OCC in 2022 was given about $25 million in federal funds after the passage of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act, plugging more than 1,123 wells.
The state expected a total of $102 million, but the money is on hold under an executive order from President Donald Trump. According to OCC spokesman Matt Skinner, the agency’s list of abandoned wells grows each year as more people move to Oklahoma and discover the leftover sites.
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