HR 310

ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 310
BY REPRESENTATIVE BRAUD
  A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Conservation and Energy to study the state's liability
       for the decommissioning of orphan, inactive, and low-production wells; available
       sources of funding for decommissioning costs; and methods to reduce the risk to
       taxpayers for these costs.
       WHEREAS, the Department of Conservation and Energy regulates operators and
wells through its permitting, monitoring, and enforcement processes to ensure compliance
with regulations and to identify and address environmental and public safety risks; and
       WHEREAS, if an operator abandons a well or does not maintain all of their wells in
compliance with regulations, the department will orphan all of the operator's wells; and
       WHEREAS, the department has in recent years developed processes to better identify
and address inactive wells; and
       WHEREAS, the number of oil and gas wells covered by financial security has
increased, but financial security amounts are still insufficient to cover the actual costs of
decommissioning; and
       WHEREAS, funding limitations prevent the department from expanding the Oilfield
Site Restoration (OSR) program, as state law limits the department's ability to collect
adequate funding to address the orphan well population; and
       WHEREAS, the department's ability to seek restoration costs from prior operators
is limited to instances where those costs exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars per site;
and
       WHEREAS, the OSR program's current orphan site list has hit a record high count
of approximately six thousand five hundred orphaned wells, estimated to cost the state of
Louisiana more than five hundred million dollars for plugging and abandonment, despite
considerable expenditures of public funds to decrease the orphan well population in recent
years; and
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HR NO. 310  ENROLLED
        WHEREAS, due to coastal erosion, many wells originally drilled on land or in
wetlands are now located in open water, creating navigational hazards and costing
approximately ten times more per well to plug; and
        WHEREAS, while efforts have increased in recent years to plug these wells, the
number of orphaned wells continues to grow by significant numbers each month and the
number of inactive wells which have a higher risk of becoming orphaned has been
increasing; and
        WHEREAS, the population of wells which are currently shut-in under the premise
of future use exceeds twenty thousand, with most unlikely to return to service and many
likely to become orphaned; and
        WHEREAS, wells with marginal production of less than one barrel of oil equivalent
(BOE) per day, numbering around eleven thousand in Louisiana, are largely uneconomic and
may be on the path to becoming public burdens; and
        WHEREAS, Louisiana's workforce has the skill set required to address the state's
aging well population; and
        WHEREAS, a study of current and likely wells the state will be responsible for
decommissioning, as well as associated costs, sources of funding, and efforts to mitigate this
growing public liability is critical and would assist the House of Representatives in working
to find legislative solutions.
        THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Conservation and
Energy to study issues related to the state's liability for oil and gas well decommissioning
across the value chain.
        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in conducting its study, the department shall
consider all the following items and provide a written report of its findings to the House
Committee on Natural Resources and Environment by March 1, 2027:
        (1) The total cost to decommission all currently orphaned wells and related facilities,
including plugging and abandonment of wells, site remediation and restoration, and platform
decommissioning where appropriate.
        (2) A breakdown of the total costs found under Paragraph (1) attributable to onshore
orphan wells and offshore orphan wells.
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HR NO. 310  ENROLLED
        (3) A breakdown of the total costs found under Paragraph (1) by enforcement
district.
        (4) The total cost to decommission all wells with a responsible party that are
currently either inactive or producing less than one BOE per day, including plugging and
abandonment of wells, site remediation and restoration, and platform decommissioning
where appropriate.
        (5) A breakdown of the total costs found under Paragraph (4) attributable to onshore
orphan wells and offshore orphan wells.
        (6) A breakdown of the total costs found under Paragraph (4) by enforcement
district.
        (7) The total amount of decommissioning costs found under Paragraph (4) that the
department can reasonably expect the responsible parties to cover and, out of the remaining
costs, the percentage likely to meet the two hundred fifty thousand dollar threshold allowing
the department to seek compensation from prior operators.
        (8) Available sources of funding to meet the state's expected liability for the
decommissioning of orphan wells and those costs not expected to be covered by the
responsible parties for inactive wells and wells producing under one BOE per day.
        (9)   Efforts by the department to mitigate the risk to taxpayers for the
decommissioning of wells.
        (10) Reasons for the addition of over one thousand additional wells to the orphan
well list in 2025, and particularly in the second half of 2025.
        (11) Any other information the department deems relevant or helpful regarding the
state's liability for orphan wells and wells likely to become orphaned.
        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Conservation and Energy.
  SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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