There are concerns now about the growing number and cost of "orphaned" oil wells that the state of Texas now has to take ownership of and plug. Typically, the responsibility of plugging a well goes to the company that dug it in the first place.
According to Todd Staples, the President of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, most companies fulfill that responsibility, but there are exceptions. He said, "The industry plugs about 85% of all wells that are plugged on an annual basis. Those that they don't plug are because an operator has gone out of business."
Staples says that this issue is largely the result of poor record-keeping during the early days of the Texas oil industry, nearly 100 years ago. He said that, "Follow-up was just not as robust as it is today, and so most of these issues are being dealt with much older wells. We believe that can be addressed."
He went on to say that the TXOGA is working to address this problem. He said that they're talking with both the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas Legislature about the ways that permits are issued, and working on creating more accountability in that space.
Staples added that he doesn't believe this will be a long-term issue.