Washington, DC and Pittsburgh, PA
FNREL Mineral and Energy Law Newsletter
Pennsylvania – Oil & Gas
(By Joseph Reinhart, Sean McGovern, Gina Buchman and Matthew Wood)
On June 10, 2026, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) announced that 400 orphan and abandoned wells have been plugged since Governor Shapiro took office, with more wells plugged in the last three years than in the prior 11 years combined. See News Release, PADEP, “Plugging More Wells: Shapiro Administration Marks 400th Orphan and Abandoned Well Plugged, Continuing Historic Progress in Pennsylvania to Protect Public Health, Create Jobs, and Reduce Methane Emissions” (June 10, 2026). The four-hundredth well, located in North Fayette Township, Washington County, was plugged under an emergency contract after active methane leakage was identified in a residential neighborhood less than one mile from West Allegheny Middle School and High School.
Since the first commercial oil well was drilled in 1859 in Titusville, Pennsylvania, the conventional and unconventional oil and gas industries have drilled hundreds of thousands of wells across the commonwealth. Generally, Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Act requires a well owner to plug a well upon abandonment, i.e., if it has not been used to produce, extract, or inject any gas, petroleum, or other liquid within the preceding 12 months; if equipment necessary for production, extraction, or injection has been removed; or it is considered dry and not equipped for production within 60 days after drilling, redrilling, or deepening. 58 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3203. An “orphan well” is defined as “[a] well abandoned prior to April 18, 1985, that has not been affected or operated by the present owner or operator and from which the present owner, operator or lessee has received no economic benefit other than as a landowner or recipient of a royalty interest from the well.” Id.
The Oil & Gas Act authorizes PADEP to plug orphan and abandoned wells and to date, PADEP has identified more than 27,000 such wells statewide, prioritizing plugging wells that pose the greatest risks to health, safety, and the environment. PADEP is also addressing the abandoned or orphaned wells surrounding high-priority active wells to drive efficiency and reduce future threats. Governor Shapiro has directed PADEP to leverage all available federal resources to fund plugging abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells, including an initial $25 million grant in 2022 from the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, followed by a $76.4 million DOI Phase 1 Formula Grant in 2024, a $114.6 million DOI Phase 2 Formula Grant in 2026, and the potential for additional funding through a DOI Phase 3 Formula Grant in the future. More information about PADEP’s Well Plugging Program is available here.
In a related update, in April 2026 PADEP issued a new information sheet and surety bond agreement for oil and gas wells for establishing an initial, replacement, or additional surety bond covering a permittee’s well plugging-related liability. PADEP provided no notice or explanation for the change. See these materials here.
Copyright © 2026, The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, Westminster, Colorado
