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ABANDONED OIL & GASWELL STATUS
REPORT | 2017
DISCLAIMER
ABANDONED WELL REPORT ____________________
January 2017
This report is a listing and ranking of abandoned wells in the State of Kansas, which are under investigation by the Conservation Division of the Kansas Corporation Commission. The listing of any individual well reflects its status as of the time of investigation or more recent update thereof. The investigation is by no means exhaustive. The Commission makes no warranty as to any recorded, unrecorded or misrecorded leases, deeds or other legal documents; any liens on file with the Uniform Commercial Code filing clerk of the respective Register of Deeds or the Secretary of State; any tax lien, be they Federal, State, County, or otherwise of any nature whatsoever; judgment liens by virtue of a civil, criminal, domestic, or probate proceeding; any recording in Federal Court for the District of Kansas; any security interest or financing statement purporting to claim an interest in said well or the property attendant thereto by any bank, lending institution, or creditor, or any subsequently filed instrument of any nature whatsoever. In addition, this report should not be disseminated for any purpose whatsoever which is impermissible under K.S.A. 45-201 et seq.
The physical tampering with or removal of any surface or subsurface equipment associated with an abandoned well may place that person or entity in the chain of responsibility for the proper operation and/or plugging of that well or wells pursuant to Kansas Statutes and/or KCC regulations. The operation of oil and gas facilities within the State of Kansas requires licensure by the Kansas Corporation Commission and complete adherence to KCC rules and regulations. Licensing information and a complete copy of the rules and regulations of the Kansas Corporation Commission, Conservation Division, is available upon request or available at the Conservation Division Internet Home page at http://kcc.ks.gov/conservation/index.htm.
http://kcc.ks.gov/conservation/index.htm
Abandoned Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Wells January 9, 2017
Introduction
Legislation during the 1996 session resulted in the creation of the Abandoned Well Plugging and Site Remediation Fund. K.S.A. 55-192 and K.S.A. 55-193 for the first time provided alternative funding to the Kansas Corporation Commission for the expressed purpose of addressing the problem of abandoned oil and gas wells. The legislation requires the Commission to prepare and maintain an inventory of all abandoned wells with a special focus on wells which, (1) lack a potentially responsible party (No PRP); and, (2) pose either an ongoing or potential threat to the environment (Priority I). The Commission was further directed to develop and maintain such an inventory on a computer database and report to the office of the Governor and certain legislative committees the status of the inventory as well as the Commissions efforts towards plugging those wells which pose a threat to the public safety and/or environment.
Computer Database / Data Collection
The application used in the inventory tracking system is Microsoft Access. Field data is collected on site in the four District offices. It is then entered into the system so it can be used to create a variety of reports concerning the abandoned wells. The amount of information on each well is extremely variable, primarily dependent on the location of the well and its age. Those wells located in the Eastern portion of the state are generally older with very little detailed information available from industry or historical Commission files.
Priority Ranking
Priority I
Wells within the Priority I grouping have been subdivided on the basis of resources impacted and by the location or condition of the individual abandoned well. Impacts are categorized as: surface waters (SW), groundwater (GW), or public safety issues (PS). The listing below provides definitions for Priority Action Levels within the Priority I inventory. In general, Level A wells are the most serious cases while Level C wells are less serious.
Priority I Action Levels
Level A Surface Water (SW)
Level A Groundwater (GW)
Wells actively discharging oil or brine into surface waters with significant ongoing impacts to surface water. Wells may be located within a sensitive groundwater area as designated in Commission regulations. Includes wells with moderate to high volumes of discharge impacting public water supplies or sole source water supplies.
Wells creating significant ongoing or potential impacts to groundwater supplies through water quality degradation or loss of water supplies through downward drainage. Wells may be located within a designated sensitive groundwater area. Emphasis is placed upon impacts to groundwater supplies used for public water supplies or sole source supplies and cases of active subsidence caused by downward drainage.
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Level A Public Safety (PS) Wells creating an ongoing or current threat to public safety. Includes wells with active gas flows with danger of ignition or open large diameter wellbores or casings in urban or suburban settings.
Level B Surface Water (SW)
Level B Groundwater (GW)
Level B Public Safety (PS)
Wells intermittently to actively discharging oil or brine into surface waters with ongoing impacts to surface water. Wells may be located within a designated sensitive groundwater area. Includes wells with low to moderate volumes of discharge impacting water resources outside of public water supplies when alternative water supplies are available.
Wells creating ongoing or potential impacts to groundwater supplies through water quality degradation or loss of water supplies through downward drainage. Wells may be located within a designated sensitive groundwater area. Includes wells with impacts to groundwater supplies outside of public water supply areas and cases of strong potential for subsidence.
Wells creating a current or ongoing threat or potential danger to public safety. Includes wells with active gas flows with danger of ignition and/or open large diameter wellbores or casings located in rural, low population areas.
Level C Surface Water (SW)
Level C Groundwater (GW)
Level C Public Safety (PS)
Wells located outside designated sensitive groundwater areas, which are intermittently discharging oil and/or brine or have potential for discharge into surface waters.
Wells located outside designated sensitive groundwater areas which have potential impacts to groundwater supplies or loss of water resources through downward drainage.
Wells creating a potential danger to public safety. Includes secured gas wells in populated areas.
Priority II
Wells within the Priority II group are relatively modern in terms of construction and do not pose either an ongoing or potential threat to the public safety or the environment. These wells have adequate surface pipe to protect shallow freshwater aquifers and are generally located in environmentally non-sensitive areas. These wells fall within the lowest priority ranking for authorization of plugging with Abandoned Oil and Gas Well / Remediation Fund monies. These wells are documented and added to the inventory. Periodic inspections determine if well conditions have changed to a sufficient degree to warrant upgrading to Priority I status.
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Status of the Inventory
The current Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Inventory stands at 21,648 records, representing an increase of 3,001 wells from the legislative report submitted in 2016. The tables below show the changes from 2016 to 2017 regarding the crucial metrics within the inventory.
Total Records in Inventory2016 2017 Change
18,647 21,648 3,001
2016 2017 Change Wells Requiring Action 2,958 5,579 2,621*
Total Wells Plugged with State Funds 9,557 9,851 294 Other** 6,132 6,219 87
Total Records in Inventory 18,647 21,648
2016 2017 Change Priority I 17,677 20,631 2,954 Priority II 970 1,017 47
Total Records in Inventory 18,647 21,648
* See Abandoned Well Records Review Initiative (Page #4) and Appendix B
**Other These records have been Removed from the list of Wells Requiring Action. Once a record is added to the database it will never be deleted. The status of a record begins as Requiring Action and is eventually Removed with a specific Remove Code. (See Appendix B)
PRIORITY I WELLS TOTAL NUMBER OF ABANDONED WELLS District Level A Level B Level C Total
1 31 68 91 190 2 207 201 142 550 3 3,015 8,561 7,515 19,091 4 241 388 171 800
Total 3,494 9,218 7,919 20,631
PRIORITY I WELLS TOTAL NUMBER OF ABANDONED WELLS District Groundwater (GW) Surface Water (SW) Public Safety (PS) Total
1 186 2 2 190 2 420 86 44 550 3 14,976 497 3,618 19,091 4 764 21 15 800
Total 16,346 606 3,679 20,631
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TOTAL NO. OF ABANDONED WELLS REQUIRING ACTION District Priority 1 Priority 2 Total
1 63 3 66 2 214 7 221 3 4,735 405 5,140 4 150 2 152
Total 5,162 417 5,579
PRIORITY 1 WELLS BY POLLUTION LEVEL REQUIRING ACTION District Level A Level B Level C Total
1 0 22 41 63 2 4 100 110 214 3 2 1,206 3,527 4,735 4 0 74 76 150
Total 6 1,402 3,754 5,162
The Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Inventory is an exceptionally dynamic database as it is updated on a daily basis. Well data exclusive to each individual record is evaluated periodically to ensure that parameter changes are accurate. It is still anticipated that more abandoned oil and gas wells will be added to the inventory as field staff responds to complain
