SPE-170949-MS

Environmental Risk and Well Integrity of Plugged and Abandoned Wells

George E. King and Randy L. Valencia, Apache Corporation

Copyright 2014, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 27–29 October 2014.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
This paper is the third in a series of environmental risk assessments covering hydraulic fracturing (SPE
152596) and well construction (SPE 166142). Risk assessment and well failure from SPE literature and
governmental agencies have been used to construct a detailed but non-company associated study of plug
and abandonment (P&A) objectives, problems, best practices, application details and methods. The
objective is to identify technology improvements as well as potential or proven problem areas. Technol-
ogy gaps will be related where they are identified by either problem reports or failures.
Case histories have been captured that illustrate a variety of abandonment reasons and approaches in
plug setting, isolation and testing/monitoring methods. The study well groupings are divided by age and
era or vintage of abandonment to examine the worth of technologies in force at the time of abandonment.
Well age, well type and general geographic influences are presented with notation of specific problems
and conditions that challenged effective isolation.
Special attention will be paid to cases of failed isolation as cited by the governmental inspection and/or
governing body as well as repair methods that restore integrity. Attention will also be given to problems
encountered in older wells. Lessons gleaned from this study will be of value to well construction and
operational maintenance with consideration paid to well type, geological hazards, production history and
durability of the isolation seal.

Introduction
There have been over 4.3 million oil and gas wells and more than 15 million water wells drilled in North
America (King & King, 2013). There is no question that un-plugged or improperly plugged oil and gas
wells, dating from 1860’s to 1930’s and later, are a potential threat and, in some areas of early oil booms,
unmarked wellbores still exist and pose a pollution pathway to aquifers from surface spills and a lesser
risk from oil or gas well developments. This is a legacy issue that a few states have not adequately
addressed. The paper will concentrate on the potential of groundwater pollution from old and more recent
plugged and abandoned oil and gas wells and will offer a limited comparison to other non-oil and gas
industry sources of pollution to groundwater.
Natural seeps of oil and gas, present on every continent, in every ocean and in virtually every oil and
gas producing area, are indications of over-filling of some conventional reservoirs or geologic structure
interruptions such as faults, natural fractures, karsts and other natural events. Natural seeps are the oldest
2 SPE-170949-MS

oil and gas prospecting tool and were used hundreds of years ago by explorers to find the largest oil
deposits of the time (Link, 1952). These natural seeps also appear to be one of the largest drivers in
bringing oil and gas to the surface and creating oil and gas cohabitation of fresh water sands, as proved
by Hart’s first US gas well in 1821 with a total depth of 28 feet to achieve gas production and Drake’s
well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, striking flowing oil at 69-1/2 feet (ACS, 2000). This mixing of oil and
gas in shallow water sands is common in areas such as New York and Pennsylvania.
Some recent studies of orphaned, abandoned-unplugged and plugged and abandoned wells have
projected leak claims of 5% to 50% of the total well population by focusing on small populations of wells
in areas known for natural seepage of oil and gas to surface, or misstating annular pressure existence as
outright well integrity failures (Kang, 2014; Davies, et.al, 2014, Ingraffea, et.al., 2013). It is a fact that
methane seepage from and around wells occurs; however; the methane that is seeping to the atmosphere
is often natural seepage from shallow, non-developed or non-commercial near-surface zones that over-lie
the commercial oil and gas fields (Muehlenbachs, et.al., 2013; Etiope & Klusman, 2002; Kvendvolden &
Rogers, 2005). This composition of gas through the geological route of slow natural seepage, even in areas
without oil or gas well development, is dominated by thermogenic gas, similar to the composition and
very often indistinguishable from gas in deeper formations (Kvendvolden & Rogers, 2005). Interestingly,
while oil and gas wells undoubtedly have opened or accelerated some seep paths in these seep-prone areas,
the seep driving pressure of both shallow and deep reservoirs contributing to seeps in the New York and
Pennsylvania as well as other seep-rich areas, have been lowered and flow from some seeps have been
curtailed or disappeared (Hornafius, et.al., 1999; Quigley, et.al., 1999; Carroll, et.al., 2000).
A study by Molofsky took samples of gas from cuttings of initial wells being drilled in previously
undeveloped areas of the Marcellus shale and showed that thermogenic gas was common throughout the
strata above the pay zones, even in areas that had no prior drilling (Molofsky, et.al., 2011). These samples
were collected during drilling and before the wells reached target depth. The presence of thermogenic gas
in the upper rock strata before drilling was a positive indicator of active natural seeps in the areas. This
finding is confirmed by the studies of other non-oil industry associated researchers that gas seepage,
particularly in areas of the Northeast US and Loydminster areasof Canada, as wells as other oil and gas
producing areas, can reach the surface in measurable volumes whether or not drilling is present in such
areas (Kvendvolden & Cooper, 2003; Kvendvolden & Rogers, 2005; Etiope & Klusman, 2002; Etiope,
2009, 2009).
A second issue is that leaks from old wells often dominate the P&A news and raise estimates of
potential risks involved with uncharted wells. Although wells from Pennsylvania, New York, and other
mid-eastern states dominate the hysteria of the current media reports, the actual active wells and 94% of
proven oil & gas reserves in the US are centered in ten mid-west and western states: Texas, Alaska,
California, North Dakota, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Louisiana (USA
Today, August 3, 2013). Wells in these ten states, where the largest oil and gas booms took place after
1900 under stronger state-based regulation and in an era of better well construction appear to have marked
lower well isolation problems. These ten states have also established well-funded programs (usually paid
for by operators as part of the permit process) to locate, assess and plug and abandon high risk orphaned
or leaking wells.
Significant regulation and enforcement on all phases of well construction in the oil and gas industry
varied for years on the region of the country, with areas like Pennsylvania, which experienced an oil boom
from 1859 to the early 1890’s, having essentially no effective regulation on well construction or
production during those early years. There were no regulations at all on P&A until the 1890’s when
Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York enacted the first P&A rules. These first P&A regulations appear to
have been enacted to protect producing zones from invasion from fresh water, not the other way around
(Thomas, 2001; NPC, 2011). As drilling spread, more states realized the need for P&A laws. At the time,
drilling was by cable tool rigs that operated with an essentially empty wellbore and “blew in” as the
SPE-170949-MS 3

dropped chisel bit broke through the upper reservoir seal. Some of the earliest wells were even cased with
wood before steel pipe was employed. One of the largest concerns for these old wells was the lack of an
annular seal. Cement was not introduced as a sealant in the oil fields until 1903, and not widely used until
the two-plug cementing system became popular just before 1920 (Calvert & Smith, 1994). When wells
would no longer flow freely, many of these early wells were abandoned by throwing whatever debris was
handy into the well. These early well construction and abandonment activities, centered mostly in the
northeast US areas that hosted the first US oil boom and a few other places around the world, created
problems that are still being felt in today’s operations. In Pennsylvania, for example, there is no accurate
count of wells, since the industry drilled without significant well permitting requirements until 1956
(Calvert & Smith, 1994).
The western states that were slower to develop their oil reserves, and were ignored while the attention
was on the early Pennsylvania oil boom, actually benefited from the development delay as cement
isolation practices spread across the country. California and Texas, where US oil well interest centered
outside of the northeast, both hosted limited, but sustained drilling activity from the 1890’s onward, and
kicked into high gear as many large oil strikes were made just after 1900. However; P&A rules also lagged
some of the western state strikes with California establishing P&A rules in 1915 and Texas in 1919. Few
other states with growing oil and gas activities enacted P&A legislation prior to 1920. Of the thousands
of wells drilled during the first 20 to 30 years, many of these wells were not plugged in any way until
abandonment regulations orchestrated a systematic approach to P&A wells. In Texas, for example, over
15,000 “orphaned” wells have been P&A’d in the past 25 years by the state-run program funded by
operator permitting fees (NPC, 2011; Thomas, 2011). Although these plugging programs arrived late, the
application of modern isolation techniques has been a large factor in reduction of pollution potential.
There is no doubt that the P&A programs have been improved over the years, but one beneficial outcome
is that many, if not most of these orphaned wells were shallow dry holes or depleted at abandonment and
lacked the pressure to flow to surface. Fortunately, most of the wells in North America have been drilled
since World War II and about a third of the wells drilled up to the early 1890’s were dry holes that were
plugged immediately after drilling (Calvert & Smith, 1994).
The first unified approach to resource conservation and effective rules to enforce it came in 1935 with
the establishment of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), the oldest and largest
interstate compact in the US that now represents governors of 30 member and 8 associated states. The
objective of the group is to conserve resources, but also protect the public. Their survey work on idle and
orphaned wells has been the driver for most of the well construction and abandonment rules that states
have adapted to fit the needs of local geology (Thomas, 2001).
By the 1970’s P&A methods, materials and regulations were reasonably effective in providing
long-term isolation in the most active oil producing states although states with small amounts of oil and
gas activities often had substandard P&A regulation (Gass et.al., 1977). Improvements in cementing and
monitoring have proven effective in minimizing leaks, although each producing area is likely to have
distinct challenges.
The advancement of the idea to store CO2 in depleted oil and gas reservoirs has brought new challenges
and new concerns to well integrity both before and after abandonment. Large-scale studies of wells prior
to CO2 storage have illustrated a potential for leaks in abandoned wells if the reservoirs are re-pressured
by CO2 (Bachu & Watson, 2006, 2008; Watson, 2013; Loizzo & Sandeep, 2008). Fields that have been
highly developed with infill drilling and especially with older completion methods may be poor candidates
for injection, re-pressuring and storage of CO2. CO2 also presents a corrosion challenge that will need to
be addressed. Well designs for CO2 storage are available and safe, but the older wells may pose a problem.
Wells developed after cementing was introduced into well construction in 1903 showed a marked
decrease in pollution potential and an increase in well integrity although plug and abandonment operations
did not appear to progress until the first effective abandonment laws began to appear in the early 1900’s.
4 SPE-170949-MS

Even then, P&A enforcement appeared to be lax. For years after the laws were enacted, some operators
still treated P&A operations as an afterthought (NPC, 2011). The Texas Railroad Commission (TRC)
proposed its first “protective” rules on P&A in 1919, “to confine oil, gas and water in the strata in which
they are found and prevent them from escaping into other strata” (NPC, 2011). Specific cementing
instructions were added by Texas in 1934 and fresh water isolation was required in 1957, although most
operators were already involved with zone sealing to eliminate extraneous water entry if only to keep the
water out of the well and reduce lifting costs. By the early 1970’s regulations described location and
placement techniques for P&A plugs and tests were required to prove isolation. Most open production pits
had been outlawed by this time and reclamation actions were required in some areas.

Well Integrity – Effect of Initial Design on P&A Effectiveness

The impact of well integrity before abandonment and the effectiveness of the plugging design afterwards
are critical elements of permanent isolation. Failure to effectively maintain integrity in producing or
injector wells or failure to properly seal an abandoned well could create an environmental and economic
risk to groundwater. Recent law enactments have made operators more liable and clean-up costs can be
large where significant damage is done (Hager & Shaw, 2014). The cost of leaving an improperly
abandoned well is now higher than doing it right the first time. That, in itself, is overdue.
P&A regulations vary between states due to local knowledge of geology and extensive experience with
isolation requirements (Smith, 1993). Although the rules vary somewhat between states and agencies, the
intent is to keep fluid isolated in the zones in which they naturally occur. Both hydrocarbon reserves and
usable water are viewed as requiring protection. The principal tools of P&A are cement, steel casing,
mechanical plugs, packing materials such as clays and weighted fluids (muds). The use of mud may seem
odd, but the design using trapped weighted fluids may be superior to a fully cemented column because
of the ability of mud to seal leakoff sites and maintain a static, overbalanced environment.
A plug and abandonment design builds on the completion design, reinforcing and further isolating parts
of the wellbore in some cases or actually removing sections of the steel pipe and cement and using special
cement plugs to isolate specific intervals of the wellbore. A generic completion design and a generic P&A
design are shown in Figure 1. In this simplified schematic, only high level points of the design are
illustrated. Additional work may be needed to complete the design, including corrosion inspection,
tagging of plugs to certify the location and pressure tests of plugs in critical locations such as isolation for
fresh water and hydrocarbon reserves that may be recoverable at a later time.
The set point of the surface casing that extends to a point deeper than the deepest fresh water sands is
set by local regulations and local geologic knowledge. The bottom of the surface string should ideally be
set in a very low permeability, stable formation but above any brackish or brine zone. Putting brine and
fresh water zones behind the same casing string is usually avoided. Surface strings are cemented back to
the surface and must be pressure tested before drilling ahead. The use of flexible, expanding cement has
been found to be an optimum seal with additives suited for local conditions (Liversidge, et.al., 2006).
Other cement practices that were developed in the last thirty to forty years have raised cementing success,
but application sometimes still lags technology (Baumgarte, et.al., 1999; Beirute, 2000; Bosma, et.al.,
1999; Cavanaugh, et. al., 2007; Cowan, 2007; Dousett, et.al., 1997; Englehardt, et.al., 2001; Faul, et.al.,
1999; Garnier, et.al., 2007; Khalifeh, 2013; Lewis, 1987; Lockyear, 1990; MacEachern, 2003; Nagelhout,
et.al., 2005; Shah & Jeong, 2003; Shah; 2004). A cement job is made or ruined in the application step and
the care that is involved.
A flexible completing design that incorporates good cement and a pipe alloy that resists locally specific
corrosion is usually the best approach, but the design is often modified by a workover if the well is
repurposed during its productive life. The P&A design must account for and adapt to these changes.
Casing centralization, adequate overlap of pipe and fill by cement, expanding cement, and pre-
SPE-170949-MS 5

Figure 1—Examples of an initial completion (left) and a generic plug and abandonment (right).

abandonment integrity evaluations are a good starting place. A combination of good mechanical plugs and
flexible, expanding cement completes the P&A.
In most responsible P&A analyses, evaluation of leak pathways will include: annular cement stability
(shrinkage, contamination with solids from poor annular cleaning and gas cut cements), cement seal
(cement-to-pipe and cement-to-formation), near-by unplugged wells and geologic considerations includ-
ing: natural fractures and/or faults, permeability contrast between the formation and the barrier and natural
connection to multi-layered zones (Mainguy, et.al., 2007; Lockyear, 1990). If the P&A job is done
correctly, few if any problems are expected based on model and inspection analysis of modern, deep wells
(Warner & McConnell, 1993; Warner & McConnell, 1989; Liversidge, et.al., 2006).
Flow up the pipe-to-cement or cement-to-formation micro-annuli depends on the size and extent of the
micro-annuli. Measurements in the field by logs and pressure transient analyses as well as in the
laboratory have estimated the permeability of real micro-annuli as a 5 to 6-fold range from about 0.00001
md to 10 md with the dominant micro-annuli being 0.01 to 0.02 md (Duguid, 2013; Tao, et.al., 2013).
Linear flow through any distance of such a small micro-annuli would reduce the gas escape rate to a very
small value.
With the adaptation and combination of established technologies such as the horizontal multi-fractured
well (King, 2014), many established fields, completed and produced with older technologies, have
potential to be redeveloped, but may be hampered by communication to surface or even aquifers by
improperly abandoned, often unmapped wellbores (Ward, et.al., 2007).
Well Failure Causes (adapted from King & King, 2013, SPE 166142)
Well integrity failures and plug and abandonment integrity failures will have related mechanical causes,
namely failure of the cement, the cement bond or the pipe. Geologic factors including subsidence may also
play a role (Kinik & Wojtanowicz, 2011; Li, et.al., 2011).
According a review of state-investigated E&P pollution incidences in Ohio (185 cases in ~65,000
wells) and Texas (211 cases in ~250,000 wells), Table 1, the majority of pollution incidences were from
activities such as drilling and completion, production, orphaned wells and waste disposal. The production
6 SPE-170949-MS

well problems were dominated by leaks from pipe- Table 1—Incidents Investigated & Identified

lines and tanks. These data include a significant Pollution Causes (Kell, 2011)
amount of legacy data before the Texas regulations State Ohio Texas
on pits, cementing and barrier design were changed Study Period, years 26 16
in 1969 (Kell, 2011). An overhaul of Texas well # wells producing 65,000 250,000
regulations in 2012/13 to account for horizontal Num. Cases Investigated 185 211
Site Related 0 0
well popularity further stiffened well design and D&C Related 74 10
implementation requirements. Frac Related 0 0
Many of the Drilling and Completion (D&C) Prod. Related 39 56
incidents were cement isolation problems, some be- Orphan Well Related 41 30
Waste Disposal Related 26 75
fore the cementing regulations were changed in
P&A Related 5 1
1969, 1996 and are being examined again. Fifty- Unknown 0 39
seven of the 75 waste related incidents in Texas
during the study period were legacy issues with
disposal pits that were outlawed in 1969. Texas has
reduced the number of orphaned wells from 18,000
in 2002 to less than 8000 in 2009, and currently is
plugging and abandoning (P&A) 1400 wells per
year of remaining orphaned wells (Kell, 2011).
A review of Ohio wells similarly suggested that
the pollution incidents were related to early com-
pletion practices. Direct quotes from Kell’s report
follow.
“During the 25 year study period (1983-2007),
Ohio documented 185 groundwater contamination
Figure 2—Issues requiring investigation on the two-state study.
incidents caused by historic or regulated oilfield
activities. Of those, 144 groundwater contamination
incidents were caused by regulated activities, and 41 incidents resulted from orphaned well leakage.
Seventy-six of the incidents caused by regulated activities (52.7 percent) occurred during the first five
years of the study (1983-1987).”
“When viewed in five year increments, the number of incidents caused by regulated activities declined
significantly (90.1 percent) during the study period. Seventy-eight percent (113) of all documented
regulated activity incidents were caused by drilling or production phase activities. Improper construction
or maintenance of reserve pits was the primary source of groundwater contamination, which accounted for
43.8 percent of all regulated activity incidents (63) in Ohio.” This finding is evidence of the effectiveness
of state regulations if regulations are constantly tuned to the technologies in use and inspectors are at a
reasonable population for the workload. In this study, the percentage of problems associated with plug and
abandonment was very low.
The low incident of plug and abandonment problems in Texas, Figure 2, is likely a reflection of well
depth, local geology and possibly regulatory attention.
“During the 16 year study period (1993-2008), Texas documented 211 groundwater contamination
incidents. More than 35 percent of these incidents (75) resulted from waste management and disposal
activities including 57 legacy incidents caused by produced water disposal pits where applications for new
pits were eliminated in 1969 and the pits were closed no later than 1984. Releases that occurred during
production phase activities including storage tank or flow line leaks resulted in 26.5 percent of all
regulated activity (TRC) incidents (56) in Texas.”
“During the study period, over 16,000 horizontal shale gas wells, with multi-staged hydraulic fracturing
stimulations, were completed in Texas. Prior to 2008, only one horizontal shale gas well was completed
SPE-170949-MS 7

in Ohio. During their respective study periods, neither the oil and gas regulating bodies of the states of
Texas (Railroad Commission) nor Ohio (Division of Minerals Resource Management) identified a single
groundwater contamination incident resulting from site preparation, drilling, well construction, comple-
tion, hydraulic fracturing stimulation, or production operations at any of these horizontal shale gas wells.”
(Comments in quotes from Kell, 2011).
The incident rate of problems from exploration to plug and abandonment, if based on the number of
producing wells, would be 1 in nearly 1200, while the rate of incidents on total wells drilled in Texas (over
1 million drilled, with more than 250,000 in operation), would be about 1 in 5,000. Note that there were
no incidents that directly involved fracturing. This is consistent with recent studies (King, 2012). These
data also indicate that historical environmental incidents associated with oil and gas development were
more commonly associated with above ground fluid handling, leaking tanks, flow lines, or use of surface
pits to contain fluids, and were less commonly associated with actual well design and construction. Steps
have been taken to improve the safety and protection provided by all aspects of hydrocarbon production
and transport, as documented in the data by the reduction in incidents in recent wells.
Contribution of Hydrocarbons from Natural Seeps
Methane leakage from the ground may also be associated with well construction by soil and rock
disturbance as the well is being drilled or for a short time after completion (Dusseault, 2000 & 2001).
Programs in these areas with suitable technology for local conditions may be beneficial (Dusseault, et.al.,
2014). Soil gas disturbance and subsequent venting either around the casing (short term) or into the well
(longer term) are usually found where a large amount of organic materials and/or small gas accumulations
are found and either continuously produced or trapped near surface. Examples are swamp-lands, muskegs,
tar sands and some permafrost areas (Slater, 2010; Macedo, et.al., 2012; Dousett, et.al., 1997). Of 316,000
wells in the province of Alberta, Canada, an estimated 4.6% had small surface casing vent flows that
lasted a few hours or more after completion (Watson and Bachu, 2009). In a 20,500 well subset of steam
injection wells in the shallow tar sands area in Alberta, almost 15% experienced surface casing vent flows
(Nygaard, 2010). This drives home the point of geographical location and illustrates the difficulty of
achieving effective seals in shallow highly gas productive areas that are rich in gas seeps and often are
poorly consolidated.
Natural Surface Seeps of Gas and Oil – Natural Pathways, Natural Pollution
Sources
Understanding hydrocarbon movement within natural seeps of oil and gas is critical to the realization that
many forms of methane migration are, in fact, a part of nature. Seep maps from the 1930’s and 1940’s
(Link, 1952) show a direct correlation with many fields, and hundreds of oil seeps are documented in the
Gulf of Mexico and more than a thousand on land in North America with perhaps as many as 10,000 seeps
worldwide (Etiope, 2009). While many uninformed observers may recognize the correlation between
documented hydrocarbon emissions and the presence of oil and gas wells, they may misread the causality.
Hydrocarbons are generated in two ways, by thermal maturation of organic materials that form a range
of alkanes from C1 (Methane) to oils of C20⫹, and by biologic activity that forms mostly short chain
alkanes such as methane gas. Hydrocarbons and fresh/usable water aquifers often share pore space within
many formations in their undisturbed states. In many cases, even fresh water sands such as the Catskill
and Lock Haven formations in the northeastern US have sufficient organic material and burial exposure
to create thermogenic gas in the water sands themselves. Several gas fields produced commercial gas from
the Lock Haven and Catskill fresh water formations from 1955 to the late 1960’s, predating all deeper
shale gas development in the area (Molofsky, 2012; Baldassare, 2011).
While methane can be released from activities involving gas well development, properly run scientific
studies on large scales have shown no correlation between gas well development and presence of methane
8 SPE-170949-MS

in drinking water (Molofsky, et.al., 2011; Baldassare, 2011). Worldwide natural seepage rate of oil is
estimated about 600,000 tons per year or 4 million barrels (170 million gallons) (Wilson, 1974;
Kvenvolden & Cooper, 2003).
Locating Abandoned Wells
As mentioned, several older areas of oil and gas provinces have abandoned wells that are not marked or
mapped (Ericksen, 2013). Methods of locating include electromagnetic surveys, old records, pressure
transient response, stressed vegetation, site disturbance surveys and other methods (Jordan & Hare, 2002;
USGS, 2013; USGS, 1984; Alter, 1984)
Contamination of Groundwater from Residential Water Wells
As much of a potential problem as the unmarked and unplugged oil and gas wells may be, there is a much
larger danger to aquifer pollution from millions of unmapped, poorly sited residential water wells that
offer a path from numerous surface and near surface commercial and residential spills or leaks of various
substances directly into aquifers. Whereas the oil & gas regulatory bodies were slow to form and react
with P&A rules; even today, only a few states actively enforce residential water well location, construc-
tion, operation and/or plug & abandonment (Esquilin, 2012).
A USGS study of 2167 residential water wells in 30 regionally extensive aquifers across the US was
used as a base line for groundwater contamination potential. The following water quality assessment
quotes are from that study (DeSimone et.al., 2009).
1. “More than one in five (23 percent) of the sampled wells contained one or more contaminants at
a concentration greater than a human-heath benchmark.
2. Contaminants most often found at concentrations greater than human-health benchmarks were
inorganic chemicals, with all but nitrate derived primarily from natural sources.
3. Nitrate is the only contaminant derived primarily from man-made sources that was found at
concentrations greater than a human health benchmark in more than 1 percent of wells.
4. Man-made organic compounds were detected in more than half (60 percent) of the sampled wells,
but concentrations were seldom greater than human-health benchmarks (less 1 percent of wells).
5. Microbial contaminants were detected in as many as one-third of the approximately 400 wells
sampled.
6. About half (48 percent) of the sampled wells contained at least one contaminant at a level or
concentration outside the range of values recommended by U.S. EPA for the aesthetic quality of
water.
7. Contaminants usually co-occurred with other contaminants as mixtures.
The contaminants most frequently found at concentrations greater than benchmarks were radon, several
trace elements (including arsenic and uranium), nitrate, and fluoride. Each of these was individually
greater than its benchmark in about 1 to 7 percent of wells nationally (using the higher of two U.S. EPA
proposed MCLs for radon). Except for nitrate, these contaminants in ground water all originate primarily
from natural geologic sources. Regional patterns in concentrations were apparent for many contaminants,
such as radon, as the result of the geographic distributions of natural sources.
Escherichia coli (E. coli), a coliform bacterium that may not be harmful at low activity levels but is an
indicator of fecal contamination, were detected in 7.9 percent of about 400 sampled wells. Total coliform
bacteria, a broad group that includes bacteria from soil, water, and animal feces, were detected in 34
percent of the sampled wells.
Nitrate was measured at concentrations greater than the U.S. EPA MCL of 10 milligrams per liter as
N in 4.4 percent of all wells and was most frequently found at these concentrations in wells in agricultural
areas. Nitrate occurs naturally, but elevated concentrations usually originate from man-made sources,
SPE-170949-MS 9

including fertilizers, livestock, and septic systems. Nitrate concentrations followed regional patterns
consistent with those found in other studies and were highest in the upper Midwest, Great Plains, and the
Central Valley in California. A separate analysis of domestic wells in areas of relatively intense
agricultural land use showed that concentrations of nitrate were greater than the MCL in nearly 25 percent
of about 400 wells sampled in those areas.
Low-level occurrences of man-made organic compounds in 60 percent of the wells sampled—
including herbicides, insecticides, solvents, disinfection by-products, gasoline-range hydrocarbons and
oxygenates, refrigerants, and fumigants—reflect the diverse industrial, agricultural, and urban sources that
can affect the quality of the source water in domestic wells. Only 7 of the 168 organic compounds that
were analyzed—two insecticides, one herbicide, two solvents, and two fumigants—were found in one or
more wells at concentrations greater than human-health benchmarks, and organic compounds were found
in less than 1 percent of sampled wells at these concentrations.”

Non-Oil Industry Injection Wells

Industrial injection wells pose a risk because they often operate at pressures higher than producing oil and
gas wells. The oil and gas industry operates about 150,000 Class II deep brine disposal wells, with most
used for water flooding operation where brine water is re-injected into the formation from which it came.
Other types of wells provide context for the comparison of a potential threat from the oil industry to
injector wells utilized from other commercial and private interests. In the US, there are approximately 550
Class I hazardous disposal wells (this is not oil and gas produced water) with most in Ohio and Gulf Coast.
These hazardous waste disposal wells also pass through aquifers and cases of pollution to ground water,
including chlorinated solvents are routinely traced back to these wells. The real potential problem is in
Class V shallow disposal wells. There are an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 Class V wells in the US,
many without monitoring and some without permits (Taylor, 2014). Over 30 sub classes of Class V
shallow injection wells inject such materials as: animal feedlot runoff, septic discharges, storm water and
other industrial wastes. Given the ranges of wastes that these wells legally and illegally discharge into
shallow depths, often above the water table, it should not be surprising that some of the most common
pollutants identified by EPA in residential water wells are coliform bacteria and viruses from septic waste
and pesticides, fertilizers, gasoline, diesel fuel, MTBE, and heavy metals from run-off. Few class V wells
are monitored or inspected (Taylor, 2014).

Idle Wells
There are several hundred thousand idle oil and gas wells in the US at any one time. IOGCC defines three
different kinds (Hager and Shaw, 2014):
1. wells not producing or injecting that have state approval to remain idle,
2. wells not producing or injecting that do not have express state approval to remain idle but have a
known and solvent operator and
3. wells not producing or injecting that have neither express state approval to remain idle nor a known
and solvent operator.
“The first category includes wells that are shut-in because there is no commercial market for their
production. These wells may become candidates for plugging in the future, but as long as they offer
commercial potential, their plugging would be premature. Wells in the second and third categories often
are referred to as abandoned.” “Wells in the third category frequently are referred to as orphaned wells”
(Hager and Shaw, 2014).
10 SPE-170949-MS

P&A Objectives
The one common factor in all abandonments is the first try at the P&A will be the lowest cost, least
difficult attempt. Doing it right the first time saves time, money and problems. An ideal abandonment
isolates all producing reservoirs and other fluid bearing formations. Individual state regulations have
evolved to fit the local geology and objectives for P&A are frequently set to eliminate proven problems
in that state or province. In a P&A job, there are at least five considerations:
1. What do the governing regulations require? If there is any doubt, going to a stronger program and
exceeding regulations should be considered as the course of action.
2. Where are the fresh and near fresh aquifers located and what has to be done to isolate them?
3. Are the appropriate plugs set in the required places?
4. Is the cement design correct for the application?
5. Has the wellbore been set up for the abandonment?
The well plugging materials may include mechanical plugs, inflatable plugs, weighted fluids, low
porosity clays and various types of cement. Removal of casing sections outward to the formation in very
low permeability zones may be necessary for isolation in some cases.
One of the first things to examine in a P&A design is where leaks have been found. Published studies
have surveyed many older wells and P&A wells and identified several areas of concern for P&A plugged
wells. (Calvert & Smith, 1994; Schmitz, et.al., 1996). Other common problems include:
● Natural seeps offer flow paths and sometimes false indications of gas flow from the well.
● Land owners often sold the steel casing and other equipment of orphaned wells without plugging
the well.
● Land owners encountered salt water while drilling for fresh water and did not adequately plug the
hole.
● Some shallow seismic holes were never plugged.
● Increased pressure during water flooding, CO2 storage or refracturing of old wells.
● Failure to seal flow paths such as gas-cut cement, mud channels and/or poor cement fill or overlap
in the well
● Cement shrinkage, cement or pipe corrosion, or cement breakdown
● Excessive treating pressures ruptured surface pipe, allowing communication with the aquifer (this
is rare).

P&A Case Histories

Although P&A operations may be handled as a single task, many companies have found it beneficial to
assemble a group of skill players to run a P&A campaign (Englehardt et. al., 2001; Tettero et.al., 2004;
Barclay et.al., 2001; Fresich, et.al., 1996; Mainguy, et.al., 2007; Thomas, 2001). In such a campaign,
especially one on a distinct geological area, improvements in P&A methods derived during the campaign
have often been noted.
From this evaluation of the literature sources, effectiveness of P&A operations appears to vary with:
vintage of the well abandonment, the specific geologic area, regulatory enforcement effectiveness,
acceptance by the operating company of accountability for the success of the operation and knowledge of
the fluids and pressures in the well, both at the time of abandonment and during stabilization or re-charge
of the formation over time.
The vintage of the well abandonment reflects:
● P&A methods, materials and attitudes in effect at the time,
● Regulations and enforcement levels,
SPE-170949-MS 11

● Accountability at the time of abandonment.

While older wells often had less of these three items, the art of determining where to drill was also less
developed, yielding a dry hole rate of one-third to over one-half of all wells drilled; a certain decrease in
fluid migration from oil and gas sources but still a potential pathway from other subterranean fluid
movement. There have been three fairly distinct development eras of P&A methods:
● 1859 to early 1920 – few effective P&A laws. Wells in this era, unstimulated beyond a few feet
from the wellbore, were mostly plugged with debris thrown in or washed in from surface. Most
of the wells in this era were shallow with depths less than about 2500 ft. These wells were cable
tool drilled, often not cemented, with low-alloy pipe that was often removed completely at the end
of production. Major concentrations of these wells are in early drilling “boom” areas including
central Europe (Azerbaijan) the northeast US, some areas of eastern Texas and the San Joaquin
Valley in California.
● 1920 to 1970 – Changes from cable tool drilling to rotary drilling, improvements in blow-out
preventers, improvement in cementing, the development of wellbore integrity protection technol-
ogies and effective movement to protect fresh water sources produced a series of cleanup
operations including elimination of production pits that changed the scope of drilling, production
and P&A operations.
● 1970 to present – Expanding and flexible cements, corrosion resistant alloys (CRAs) for pipes and
continued regulation improvement have progressed the Q&A method to an acceptable level,
although special well cases require custom solutions.
The geology of the area including presence or absence of natural seeps of thermogenic derived gas,
drift gas, biologic gas, pay zone outcrops, large faults and regionally extensive natural fracture systems
impact the potential for establishing an effective abandonment. Shallow, heavy oil areas such as the
Lloydminster area in Alberta and Saskatchewan have shown as many as 45% of wells have some level
of detectable methane emissions in the vicinity of the wellhead after abandonment (Schmitz et. al., 1996).
The gas that surfaces in this area is usually a slow leak of very small bubbles that can be seen in the wet
soil (Dusseault, 2000). It is worthwhile to note that the shallow oil, sometimes in the form of a mixture
of nearly immobile heavy oil, water and sand does not have an upper barrier in most areas and associated
gas can break free from the oil and migrate to the surface whether or not a well has been drilled, although
the wellbore often acts as a path for gas escape, particularly immediately after any form of ground
disturbance (King and King, 2013). Other areas, outside of the seep area, show almost no emissions, even
when drilling is present. Using best practices has been cited as a way to reduce leak frequency below 1%
of total well count (Cavanaugh, 2007; Englehardt, 2001)
Regulations, as pointed out earlier, have been evolving over a 120 year period and materials have
improved with the addition of self-healing cements, flexible cements to handle thermal or mechanical
shock loads, expanding cements and alternate sealing methods (Cavanagh, 2007; Reddy, et. al, 2010,
Englehardt, et. al, 2001).
Accountability, from a legal perspective, varies by state but is outside the scope of this paper; though
it remains a critically important topic.

Conclusions
1. Current era wells have significantly less P&A leak potential than older era wells, particularly those
in eastern and mid-eastern states where the oil boom development booms of the pre-1900’s,
predated use of cement as isolation and also predated effective record keeping and regulations.
2. P&A performance is variable based on geologic conditions, vintage of well P&A, adherence to
best practices and effectiveness of knowledgeable regulations and regulatory enforcement by
12 SPE-170949-MS

experienced inspectors.
3. The potential for gas leaks to surface around a wellhead can be associated both with the presence
of shallow gas in an area and leaking wells.
4. The difference between natural sources of gas seepage and actual oil or gas well seepage is
difficult to establish since the vast majority of gas from natural seeps is thermogenic.

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