Meet The Retired Oil Exec Plugging Forgotten Wells To Reduce Emissions | World Wide Waste

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 22 май 2022
  • Nine million Americans live near an orphan oil and gas well. These wells have no owner and they were never sealed, so they're leaking out tons of methane and deadly gases unchecked. Some are 150 years old, and were lost with time. So finding and plugging them with cement can be so costly, most states don't have the funds to do it. But with $4.7 billion in funds to address this problem passed with the Infrastructure Bill, there's renewed hope. We follow one ex-oil executive and his team as he hunts down and plugs forgotten oil wells.
    MORE BUSINESS INSIDER VIDEOS
    How Plates Made From Sugarcane Could Help India's Plastic Problem | World Wide Waste
    • How Plates Made From S...
    How Logs of Fruit Pulp Replace Firewood and Charcoal | World Wide Waste
    • How Logs of Fruit Pulp...
    Briquettes Made From Coconut Waste Could Reduce Deforestation | World Wide Waste
    • Briquettes Made From C...
    ------------------------------------------------------
    #OrphanOilWells #WorldWideWaste #BusinessInsider
    Business Insider tells you all you need to know about business, finance, tech, retail, and more.
    Visit us at: www.businessinsider.com
    Subscribe: / businessinsider
    BI on Facebook: read.bi/2xOcEcj
    BI on Instagram: read.bi/2Q2D29T
    BI on Twitter: read.bi/2xCnzGF
    BI on Snapchat: / 5319643143
    Boot Camp on Snapchat: / 3383377771
    Meet The Retired Oil Exec Plugging Forgotten Wells To Reduce Emissions | World Wide Waste

Комментарии • 1,2 тыс.

  • @BusinessInsider
    @BusinessInsider  Год назад +1

    We want your help expanding Insider's videos about the environment, climate change, and sustainability. Tell us your thoughts in this 2-3 minute survey: bit.ly/InsiderWWWsurvey 


    Thanks so much!

  • @justinvance2116
    @justinvance2116 Год назад +213

    Im a driller for a company that plugs abandoned wells in Pa and Wv. Respect to all of these guys that do it. It’s tough physical work. I have a college degree and this pays so much better than my 4 years of college ever will.

    • @barrywassel3899
      @barrywassel3899 Год назад

      Your company should be famous, Justin, doing that great work. But alas, Capitalists don't care, they just move on and let people die.

    • @spicykittyh1
      @spicykittyh1 Год назад +4

      For most people in most fields, anything less than a masters degree is probably not an economical choice in the end. Employers just keep raising the bar for us and lowering it for themselves.

    • @alielabdimarras7965
      @alielabdimarras7965 Год назад

      @@spicykittyh1 Financing wars and military all over the world costs cash, so you guys have to work more.

    • @dollin9515
      @dollin9515 Год назад +3

      @@alielabdimarras7965 its not so simple as america being imperialistic- its corporate greed as well. Many different factors but we are going thru a time where a lot of our older generations literally had brain damage from lead poisoning. Our government has also let corporations get away with way too much.
      To put it as simply as possible- the nation has become a nation of cash and coin instead of people and politics.

    • @dollin9515
      @dollin9515 Год назад

      What degree did you get? Can anyone get into this sort of thing?

  • @jakekgfn
    @jakekgfn Год назад +800

    Finally someone is doing something about those toxic orphans

    • @ObesePuppies
      @ObesePuppies Год назад

      … uhh… “retired oil exec is now plugging the oil wells” .. red flag… that basically means a oil company started a “nonprofit” to get money from the public and placed their own employees to supposedly plug the wells. Nothing on this video makes any sense.

    • @blacdiamond2334
      @blacdiamond2334 Год назад +11

      lol

    • @PeaceMastah
      @PeaceMastah Год назад +5

      @@darae3936 whoosh

    • @kweep1
      @kweep1 Год назад +1

      @@darae3936 um you alright?

    • @DES.REVER.DESIGNS
      @DES.REVER.DESIGNS Год назад +3

      What do trumps unwanted children have to do with this?

  • @gshak33
    @gshak33 Год назад +1812

    Oil companies should have to set aside a trust for every well they drill with enough money to cover cleanup.

    • @LynxenX
      @LynxenX Год назад +111

      You think oil companies are responsible enough to do that? If they dont profit, they dont do it. Simple.

    • @bananacrusader9502
      @bananacrusader9502 Год назад

      Modern companies do have to plug them by law its the old wells they are plugging up

    • @jeff4952
      @jeff4952 Год назад +138

      @@LynxenX Because no one listened to the video - The wells they're plugging are all very old and predate regulations that require companies to responsibly abandon wells. They even predate when wells were tracked. I can't say i've heard of an orphaned well that's not decades old. Also, while everyone does it different, texas for example uses taxes/fees it charges to E&P companies to plug orphaned wells.

    • @charlieinabox1164
      @charlieinabox1164 Год назад +40

      @@jeff4952 They said most are old but they also said operators that go bankrupt happen too and did not state these were old as well... 2:41 You didn't listen. What Gabe is saying that all oil companies need to pay a fee to the state they drill in to cover the cost of pugging the well that is refundable one plugging the well themselves but in the event they go under and are unable to the state can take care of it. Now, trusting the government not to inappropriately use the funds and still be unable to pay for it is another story.

    • @chrispaul1117
      @chrispaul1117 Год назад +13

      they play all kinds of games.. they set up a small corp , address at a po box then go out of business when they well dries up ,maybe throw in a bankruptcy

  • @michellebaron7592
    @michellebaron7592 Год назад +26

    *YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE GREAT TO START BUT YOU HAVE TO START TO BE GREAT! - NANCY SHERWOOD*

  • @callspreadzero854
    @callspreadzero854 Год назад +308

    Glad he highlighted Louisiana. I could take them to hundreds if not thousands across the marsh and around the delta. Most are from the early oil boom in the 1900’s. Where they plugged this one in the video, around Shreveport to Oil City, there’s tons of old orphans.

    • @vyros.3234
      @vyros.3234 Год назад +3

      Same in Texas also

    • @kev.s5104
      @kev.s5104 Год назад +1

      Yeah im from shreveport and i agree

    • @alien9279
      @alien9279 Год назад +28

      If you guys know of them, please report them! Locals have unique insight into these locations, and locations are critical!

    • @user-kw7gv4fj8x
      @user-kw7gv4fj8x Год назад +20

      You might actually wanna contact them it would save them so much time. I wish it were cheaper to plug these wells :(

    • @anthonyvarga2914
      @anthonyvarga2914 Год назад +3

      Why don’t you contact them to offer

  • @Ed_Crumbs
    @Ed_Crumbs Год назад +56

    I don't think I'll be able to forget the Well Done Foundation. Like, come ON that is one hell of a good name!

  • @AnimeSunglasses
    @AnimeSunglasses Год назад +30

    It's outrageous that so few execs, in ANY industry, have this man's sense of responsibility. He ought to be the standard.

    • @waddney4121
      @waddney4121 Год назад

      I would guess it's for the carbon credits

    • @AnimeSunglasses
      @AnimeSunglasses Год назад

      @@waddney4121 he's gone far beyond the usual mark of rich people trying to buy credit.
      While one COULD ascribe the difference to the engineers' love of just doing physical stuff... You know the saying that overestimating your enemies can be as dangerous as underestimating them?
      There's a similar principal in not rejecting an ally just because of their background.

    • @waddney4121
      @waddney4121 Год назад

      @@AnimeSunglasses check out the wikki page, they sell carbon credits,
      look at it from a business standpoint, great way to secure carbon credits
      while being exempt from federal tax,

    • @peterrowe6055
      @peterrowe6055 6 месяцев назад

      You may be surprised to know that there are other retired senior oil and gas executives involved in orphan well abandonment programs. To implement these programs requires a team of specialists with knowledge in all aspects of the petroleum industry. Former senior executives play a key role in working with regulators to assemble the financial and technical resources required to carry out a Legacy Well abandonment programs.

  • @ph11p3540
    @ph11p3540 Год назад +255

    Oil field work is rough, hard and dirty work on the human body. Our modern society cannot function at all without guys like this. So glad to see some of these guys come back and cap those old wells properlty.

    • @landenblanchfield4624
      @landenblanchfield4624 Год назад +2

      That’s why they pay insane taxes. Companies should cap their own if they’ve not bankrupt

    • @dertythegrower
      @dertythegrower Год назад +5

      Huge respect, but all those profits were reaped with these guys truly not caring about the end results beside their own profits (even by my own family was in oil and oil trucks) in Wyoming ive seen other fishy drivers doing stuff to avoid dumping costs, or proving how much they use, all similar to these well owners like this, and they cut corners and dump there to this day (yes in 2020 ive seen it there in the casper area) where people dump frack sand at night in random fields to avoid cost to companies as oil has dropped.. small business takes all the business expense while oil company middle men just control prices and market of profits to the small guy

    • @jamessaunders1926
      @jamessaunders1926 Год назад +1

      With 4.7 billion on the table you cannot be serious.

    • @bandman4lbandman4l68
      @bandman4lbandman4l68 Год назад

      @@landenblanchfield4624 fr!

    • @yahwehvii6059
      @yahwehvii6059 Год назад

      @Bend Over No one is doing that with the wells left behind though. Might as well plug them up.

  • @electro46475
    @electro46475 Год назад +218

    The same way you have to pay deposit for your house you rent before you rent it, the same way these companies should give each state the money to cover the cost of closing the well before they even allow them to drill in the first place. Put that money in some protected account that nobody can touch with some descent interest rate to cover inflation and then everybody is happy. The companies, the states, the people, the environment!

    • @cookiemon420
      @cookiemon420 Год назад +7

      The USA in General has a non-interventionist policy, which makes it closer to a free market than a place like Europe. Also big oil is called big called big oil for a reason

    • @jorik41
      @jorik41 Год назад +5

      Let's see giving money to government to garantie safe disposable when they extracted all whealt out of a spot or giving money to there politicians friends to not do that and bend the rules for them. I wonder what big companies choices🤔

    • @madewithrealdiamonds
      @madewithrealdiamonds Год назад

      @@jorik41 dude, our biggest issue in America is elitist corruption. These people don't see the effects of their actions because they have lake and mountain houses. It's easy for them not to care. Oil companies should be taxed heavily for each plastic they produce, and a plug deposit is a great idea. We need to get rid of these corrupt elitist politicians.

    • @hanleyk
      @hanleyk Год назад

      @@jorik41 lol
      Louisiana? no corruption here!

    • @jorik41
      @jorik41 Год назад

      @Bend Over perfect we in europe will like to buy that oil. Pump i up just stop waisting money on bribing politician i mean "donating to there campaigns" and just pay a good Crew to seal those holes when you are done. The people around there already speak a bit funny don't make it worse by contaminating there water 😅.

  • @jaredguadalupeayala7910
    @jaredguadalupeayala7910 Год назад +57

    This negligence is horrifying. Thank you to the people taking it upon themselves to fix this problem.

    • @randybobandy9828
      @randybobandy9828 Год назад +2

      Ya.. now think about the neglect in places like China or India 😂 they give no fcks about the environment

    • @88corinutza
      @88corinutza Год назад +3

      WELL....... THEY are getting paid handsomely lmao
      their not out there for FREE 🤣🤣🤣

    • @waddney4121
      @waddney4121 Год назад

      @@88corinutza and those precious carbon credits

  • @Rygoat
    @Rygoat Год назад +62

    There should be some kind of bounty/reward for people who find the super old completely forgotten wells. I'm sure it would get more people reporting in long forgotten stuff that would otherwise be overlooked

    • @_R_R_R
      @_R_R_R Год назад

      Yeah

    • @liveyourdreammedia
      @liveyourdreammedia Год назад +3

      Yeah even if it's just 10$ per well, it must inspire some people to do it full time

    • @Rygoat
      @Rygoat Год назад +7

      @@liveyourdreammedia Since making this comment I've had time to dwell on it, there's a lot of people out there hunting for gold just as a hobby what if the reward was half an ounce of gold. Then the reward would also have its value automatically adjusted over time as the price of gold slowly rises

    • @liveyourdreammedia
      @liveyourdreammedia Год назад +1

      @@Rygoat that sounds good honestly.
      I always find it funny that I find more actual fixes to problems anywhere but in the political and experts realm 😊

    • @Yutaro-Yoshii
      @Yutaro-Yoshii Год назад +2

      this should count as a negative carbon tax (methane can be counted by the equivalent amount of CO2), so big emitting companies can chip in and fund these effort to offset their balance.

  • @mandeep3.14
    @mandeep3.14 Год назад +382

    This is depressing but a lil hopeful. This guy is doing extraordinary work 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
    I hope that it’s compulsory for creators to close what they open somehow cos that’s just mad. I can’t believe that no one was notified and that many we’re able to get away with such a serious crime.

    • @Corrupted14
      @Corrupted14 Год назад +11

      It's easy to avoid the law by having the owner be a corporation, have the corporation pay out the real owners and "go bankrupt", and then they just open a new corporation.

    • @IsraelistheJewsland
      @IsraelistheJewsland Год назад

      Sounds like bullshit- 1985 some one was killed and they are making a video about this today because of what? An agenda that I an neither for or against because i dont fully get it yet.

    • @VieneLea
      @VieneLea Год назад +4

      Didn't you watch the video? It is absolutely compulsory now, but the wells were made before the 50s.

    • @IsraelistheJewsland
      @IsraelistheJewsland Год назад +1

      @@VieneLea liberals

    • @corporateamerica4530
      @corporateamerica4530 Год назад +2

      Sir, rules and getting convicted only apply to the peasants
      banks and corporations are tax & conviction exempt

  • @shubashuba9209
    @shubashuba9209 Год назад +148

    These orphans are finally getting the attention they deserve.

  • @bubbleologyresearchinterna7729
    @bubbleologyresearchinterna7729 Год назад +17

    SISTER2 - Standard Instrumentation Suite Truck Enabled for Response - is a 1 ton package we crane into the bed of a hybrid Ford F150 which supplies the 4.2 kW it needs. We can real time measure methane, ethane, and propane helping to fingerprint the gas as from a well as opposed to a cow.

    • @charlottemarston2576
      @charlottemarston2576 Год назад +3

      The BRI team is so excited to have been a part of this video!

    • @iraleifer9269
      @iraleifer9269 Год назад +2

      @@charlottemarston2576 It was great fun doing the video with the Business Insider team. Lately, we have been looking at an abandoned oil field to the south of Elk Hills, where all one sees in the flat terrain is dead grass and really really poor condition dirt roads. We had to ruggedize SISTER to deal with the roads there - our roof rack popped off the first time we surveyed on those roads. Emissions from the hundreds of abandoned oil wells was very weak, but we hope to quantify them next week.

    • @lokensga
      @lokensga Год назад

      Response to BRI: Perfect! We need to design a system to capture methane from cows! (Ka-Ching!)

  • @GusCraft460
    @GusCraft460 Год назад +52

    The government should set up an orphan well bounty program. If someone finds, records, and reports the location of an orphan well then they should get some kind of monetary reward. You would see people scrambling to find all these wells in no time.

  • @dingus153
    @dingus153 Год назад +83

    Good to see a (former) oil exec actually doing something for the environment for once

    • @alien9279
      @alien9279 Год назад +4

      Probably the first one In History😅

    • @sunshine3914
      @sunshine3914 Год назад +3

      He’s still making the big bucks.

    • @XiaoMof
      @XiaoMof Год назад +1

      @@sunshine3914 Mostly from retirement plans lol, he mostly gets donations to get rid of them.

    • @rustyshackle917
      @rustyshackle917 Год назад +2

      The power of guilt perhaps?

  • @mountaineergirl255
    @mountaineergirl255 Год назад +47

    I live in WV and I got curious so I googled a map...turns out there's TWO in my neighborhood - including one not far (less than 100 yds) from an elementary school. I'll be looking very carefully at this map before buying my next home, I'm so glad I saw this video!

    • @randybobandy9828
      @randybobandy9828 Год назад

      Why?

    • @weenisw
      @weenisw Год назад +2

      @@randybobandy9828 heightened cancer risk

    • @mahokira504
      @mahokira504 Год назад

      Shouldn't you try to give a call to someone to clean them

  • @chi-jenyang9752
    @chi-jenyang9752 Год назад +310

    For decades, I have heard about this. Big oil companies sell their near-exhausted wells to avoid environmental remediation costs. Small companies buy these wells, produce for a short while, declare bankrupcy, dissolve the company, and abandon these wells to avoid any environmental costs. Thanks to their irresponsible practices, now we call plugging wells a climate solution.

    • @methodius--9405
      @methodius--9405 Год назад

      Capitalism just like Communism, literally has no morals. The Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution has been a disaster on the Human race.

    • @aenorist2431
      @aenorist2431 Год назад

      Those companies have CEOs.
      CEOs that we can put in prison.
      If we did that, those practices would stop something rapid.

    • @alkasoli4002
      @alkasoli4002 Год назад +7

      Ohh.. thanks for sharing this information

    • @MrPaxio
      @MrPaxio Год назад +10

      completely legal so no biggie. and yes its going to become a problem of the population. instead of going after the companies that do it theyre just gonna tax the end user (us) for the clean up of the process that sells to the end user.

    • @wsrtwetr
      @wsrtwetr Год назад

      No it's thanks to your 3rd world country mentality who believes profit above all else and regulation is limiting your 'freedumb'. What is so different about America compare to China? Not a whole lot when you look at accountability for businesses.

  • @liampowers8570
    @liampowers8570 Год назад +15

    This ended in such a weird way, “some people say we should make oil companies pay for it, but then again we do use cars and planes” is such a bad argument

    • @3sty216
      @3sty216 Год назад

      It actually makes more sense for them to clean up after themselves tbh, they have the tools to make the wells and they have the same tools to clean and plug it up. Waste management and cleanup is still in their area of responsibility unless it involves another problem outside of their expertise

    • @ignasanchezl
      @ignasanchezl Год назад +3

      Like some say and dont like, these cost will be added at the pump.
      Is that a bad thing? No, it's the price of pollution. Want cheaper energy? Use a cleaner source.

    • @liampowers8570
      @liampowers8570 Год назад

      @@ignasanchezl except this isn’t passed onto the consumer in any way that actually deals with the problem, it’s just going out into the air and killing people and the “consumer” doesn’t even know it’s there

    • @alien9279
      @alien9279 Год назад +1

      Oil companies make INSANE profits. They can afford to do things properly, but actively choose not to, and lo by the gov to prevent change. It's pretty f'ed up.

    • @liampowers8570
      @liampowers8570 Год назад

      @@alien9279 agree, very strange that that was the point the video was going towards until the last moments

  • @thomasgeorgecastleberry6918
    @thomasgeorgecastleberry6918 Год назад +130

    Oil companies should pay a "plugging fee," before they are allowed to drill. This money should be held by some entity with the drilling permit.

    • @Captainkirk88410
      @Captainkirk88410 Год назад

      What like a government entity which steal the funds before being used?

    • @andremacedo8463
      @andremacedo8463 Год назад +10

      Oil companies will call that bill "communist" and lobby away from it

    • @remingtonyota8145
      @remingtonyota8145 Год назад +16

      Oil companies in Oklahoma already have to put up a 20,000$ plugging bond before they can operate a oil and gas well.

    • @MrPaxio
      @MrPaxio Год назад +2

      but that would require constant development and improvement of the process, and we sure as heck do not want that. just ask brandon

    • @soulwarrior7721
      @soulwarrior7721 Год назад +4

      Kind of like a Security deposit people have to put down to rent a house or apartment.. Great idea..

  • @steven.h0629
    @steven.h0629 Год назад +8

    I'm happy to see Curtis and his foundation getting some media exposure.. there's a lot of people out there doing this important work, but as Mary Kang says, 12:06 it's currently not enough. 🤜💥🤛

  • @tengkualiff
    @tengkualiff Год назад +10

    "States dont have the funds to plug em all"
    Yeah right. Maybe if each politician was on minimum wage they would have plenty of funds!

  • @donnac.1609
    @donnac.1609 Год назад +8

    In all fairness the Oil Companies should have capital funds set aside to plug all wells they are done with! There is always a COST to running any business whether it is taxes or payroll or responsibilities for cleanup!! American Oil Companies have shirked their responsibilities on many levels! Time to step up!

    • @donnac.1609
      @donnac.1609 Год назад

      @Bend Over many of the smaller companies went bankrupt and just walked away. I imagine there may still be oil available but for what ever reason the wells are abandoned and pipes left open.

    • @donnac.1609
      @donnac.1609 Год назад

      @Bend Over If the wells are healthy and they can get to them that might be a good idea. The methane they are omitting is tremendous.

  • @djungelskog3434
    @djungelskog3434 Год назад +75

    If cement is easily cracked in the event of an earthquake, wouldn't it help to seal the orphan wells with something that has more elasticity like rubber? I'm no expert but I'm just curious

    • @rhino6139
      @rhino6139 Год назад +14

      only makes sense if your in a earthquake active place like japan maybe

    • @pimme043
      @pimme043 Год назад +25

      @@rhino6139 I thought some places in the US are also earthquake active

    • @serenityinside1
      @serenityinside1 Год назад +20

      As he said .. California.
      Least I was listening 🙄

    • @TheLukasDirector
      @TheLukasDirector Год назад +2

      Would be quite expensive to do so.

    • @rhino6139
      @rhino6139 Год назад +6

      @@serenityinside1 cool A+ for you.

  • @ignasanchezl
    @ignasanchezl Год назад +3

    As an evromental enthusiast, when i saw that truck packed with sensors I was like "wow holy shit I want one of those"

    • @ignasanchezl
      @ignasanchezl Год назад

      @Bend Over I desire information to acquire knowledge

  • @ranjitpelia3267
    @ranjitpelia3267 Год назад +68

    Can everyone in a state send in a water sample (from their tap) to EPA to be assessed for Methane/Orphan-Well Specific biomarkers. Then those datapoints can be measured over semi-annual periods to regress seasonal vs probable-well exposure increases. This would lead to more documented wells, increase public knowledge, and provide an anonymous, cheap, and sustainable measure of multiple water-related health measures. In another lifetime, I could take this up.

    • @Smokie1523
      @Smokie1523 Год назад +11

      ehhh, that sounds too much like work... america cant be bothered with its citizens well being and health, theres profit to be made!

    • @shanefowkes7451
      @shanefowkes7451 Год назад +1

      Very much like the UK, amongst other country's when the stock markets crash again they will forget this problem again just like some places in the UK still having undocumented black plague graves

    • @franwex
      @franwex Год назад

      Americans don’t even want to participate in the census.

    • @andremacedo8463
      @andremacedo8463 Год назад

      @@shanefowkes7451 black plague graves poses basically no threat anymore lmao

    • @MrPaxio
      @MrPaxio Год назад

      how about finish what u started and now the population doesnt have to become aware of how crap this whole democratic system is where its now their problem and worry. and it definitely wont be cheap thats not how budgets work for these corporations or taxes. thatd be alot of work just to come to the conclusion that we are polluting everything anyway. the water that comes out of ur tap definitely has alot more funny chemicals than just methane which gasses out of the water anyway depending on so many factors. the carcinogens in the water only have one factor. theyre carcinogens.

  • @peterjarnes25
    @peterjarnes25 Год назад +1

    Big props to the ones making a difference for the better of the people!

  • @papwithanhatchet902
    @papwithanhatchet902 Год назад +9

    Orphan Wells was a genius. I love his films.

    • @hakaase
      @hakaase Год назад

      Hahaha, love ya

  • @sweet44508
    @sweet44508 Год назад +6

    Nice to know some of them have a conscience

  • @chrissartain4430
    @chrissartain4430 Год назад

    Never knew it was even a Thing. Thank You for understanding this new Disaster.

  • @andrewoh2612
    @andrewoh2612 Год назад +1

    Idk for most people, but for those who work in the transportation and health administration this is a huge step forward. Its nice to know non-profit organizations are contributing to bridge the gap between big oil and big health.

  • @dabberdan3200
    @dabberdan3200 Год назад +6

    Being a Miner I have rules and responsibility to the Government to make sure that I restore the land to it’s original condition. I have bond’s to pay as a financial incentive to make sure that full and complete reclamation happens.Why isn’t this the case with Oil and Gas?!?!
    I agree a ecological trust must be set up for issues of disaster to the land and Community!

    • @randybobandy9828
      @randybobandy9828 Год назад +1

      It is the case for oil and gas Dan. Miners 100 years ago didn't have those rules and responsibilities to restore the land like you do and the same goes for oil. All these orphan wells are decades old before regulation was enforced. New wells are different

    • @nicksurfs1
      @nicksurfs1 Год назад

      It certainly seems like their should be. I know the oil lobby is powerful so they may have gotten a rule book more preferable to them. But getting a bond ahead of time to seal the well when they are done seems like a no brainer.

    • @evolburd5768
      @evolburd5768 Год назад

      @@nicksurfs1 thats exactly how it works now.

    • @evolburd5768
      @evolburd5768 Год назад

      They do seal them up now but back then it was a shit show just like the mining industry. How many superfunds have been set up to deal mining practices that destroyed an area. We grow and develop as a species and its good to know we dont follow those practices anymore.

  • @dc74
    @dc74 Год назад +5

    Kudos to the team for the service.

    • @mrcroob8563
      @mrcroob8563 Год назад

      I mean the guy is an ex oil exec didn't he also contribute to the issue he is fixing?

    • @dc74
      @dc74 Год назад

      @@mrcroob8563 but at least he's the guts to face it, unlike others.

    • @mrcroob8563
      @mrcroob8563 Год назад

      @@dc74 really brave to get rich off of exploitation then later give back a fraction to help undo part of what he did? I would say any average person has done more by doing nothing...

    • @dc74
      @dc74 Год назад

      @@mrcroob8563 🤔😄😄

  • @jimbovitikan4848
    @jimbovitikan4848 Год назад +1

    Good work on spreading the awareness of this

  • @doughahn9263
    @doughahn9263 Год назад

    Good for you guys.
    Thanks

  • @jamesmihalcik1310
    @jamesmihalcik1310 Год назад +6

    Look up active gas and oil wells in California. The state owns the orphans, continues to lease deposits, the state made billions over the years. California was built on gas and oil. Look up who owned the leases. Some pretty familiar names.

    • @lokensga
      @lokensga Год назад

      @Bend Over Source of your assertion?

  • @milfsncookiesss
    @milfsncookiesss Год назад +6

    I’ve been in the Inline Inspection/Well Testing sector of the industry for the last 10 years. It’s only marginally better in Alberta. At least through public databases, the surface and downhole locations have records, locations, etc and there are regulations to prevent construction of homes/right of ways/etc if they are within a certain proximity. The OWA doesn’t get enough funding from the current oil companies that pay into the OWA, and the Federal Government’s $120 million they threw in a couple years ago didn’t get much done. Until the price of oil and gas goes back down, a lot of the decomissioning/abandonment/reclamation companies doing the work will be in tougher shape.

  • @yashasvihaswani8934
    @yashasvihaswani8934 Год назад +1

    the government should actually donate and support these organisations,that would be real help.

  • @tammykoble236
    @tammykoble236 Год назад +1

    In Alberta Canada, there are now HUNDREDS of thousands of abandoned oil wells here. The government has discovered that Alberta has very hot water from these wells and we can use them for GEO-THERMAL electricity production. They identified 42 towns with a local well that will produce electricity for the whole town - as well as copius amounts of hot water! Just one deep well wil power thousands of homes and then utilize the extra hot water for greenhouses, grain drying or even putting underground pipes under roads and sidewalks to prevent SHOVELLING or ICE on the roads! Some Nordic countries have been doing this for over 60 YEARS!
    THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL SAVE THE WORLD - I believe that is WHY the oil Industry has SUPPRESSED this technology more than any other.

  • @Wreckz_Tea
    @Wreckz_Tea Год назад +4

    Dude... 22lbs an hour of methane escaping!?!? That's bonkers. I've never even used that word before so that's how you know. Look I'm just saying, if oil companies are all good with making major profits from their oil wells then they need to pay the bill when it comes time to call it quits. How is it even legal for companies to just simply profit and then bounce out and leave the problems for someone else to deal with? When you own a business there are bills that must be paid and it's time this become 1 of those. Oil prices are high enough that there is no excuse

  • @stickynorth
    @stickynorth Год назад +11

    This is why I laugh so whole-heartedly when I heard the term "responsible oil and gas development"... Like WHEN was that? NEVER!

  • @robertcalamusso1603
    @robertcalamusso1603 Год назад

    Great work
    Thx
    Lots to do

  • @oneshotme
    @oneshotme Год назад

    Wow that's a lot of wells!!!
    Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up for the support of your channel

  • @ezrathebigmad
    @ezrathebigmad Год назад +3

    "But he says we shouldn't just blame the Drillers"
    Not the workers, but the companies, absolutely.
    "We live in a society that-"
    None of the things we, whether we need to or not, use oil to produce has *anything* to do with the profit-motivated practice of just abandoning these things half finished.
    We can *absolutely* blame, 100%, the previous owner of each well.

  • @aenorist2431
    @aenorist2431 Год назад +18

    Shit like that needs criminalisation yesterday.
    As with every form of corporate terrorism, we need personal liability for the C-suite alongside actually painful damages against the company.
    500% of costs as a floor for any judgement would be a good start, kick shareholders in the balls until they fix the issues in their self-interest.
    Add 30 years prison + a presumption of guilt and suddenly internal controls will magically improve ... at least far enough to demonstrate innocence.
    If you force everyone involved to try their best, you will get results that match exactly those efforts.

    • @MrPaxio
      @MrPaxio Год назад

      but america is the land of opportunity, not unopportunity.

    • @randomxm-1875
      @randomxm-1875 Год назад

      This Europe your talking about or china when you refuse a order from the CCP?

    • @kkirschkk
      @kkirschkk Год назад

      one a lot of these wells being abandoned where not the faults of companies [who literally went bankrupt and didnt have the means to plug them], and two the overly large prison sentences and presumption of guilt is illegal and wouldnt pass as it is illegal

  • @livinglegacy7
    @livinglegacy7 Год назад +1

    THANK YOU 👏👏👏

  • @winterhorse290
    @winterhorse290 Год назад +2

    In offshore production, the company has to post a bond to plug and abandon all wells and remove the platform. This bond follows the lease as long as its producing. The BSEE makes sure that nothing is left.

  • @bhaumik_09.11
    @bhaumik_09.11 Год назад +3

    Sad to think about how much these unsung heros take in those unwanted methane in their system just so that others can live a better life🙂🙂

  • @mikeyKnows_
    @mikeyKnows_ Год назад +4

    Most are from the 1910's - 1930's, there was no regulations back then and they simply walked away when nothing was found. My company (Chevron) were drilling one day then all of a sudden water started coming out about 15 yards away, it was an abandoned well nearby.

    • @randybobandy9828
      @randybobandy9828 Год назад

      Too bad half the people crying outrage in the comments don't understand this... they all think that these companies are currently leaving wells like this. Ignorance.

    • @mikeyKnows_
      @mikeyKnows_ Год назад

      @@randybobandy9828 for real, stupid assumptions

  • @RAVEN_SPRING_
    @RAVEN_SPRING_ Год назад

    Honorable work well done man

  • @steph_ann_e
    @steph_ann_e Год назад +1

    Thank you!!

  • @PrimitiveOverland
    @PrimitiveOverland Год назад +3

    I once cracked one of these open as a kid on the iron bridge hunting club in Louisiana. It had a ball valve and I put a lighter to it. One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done 10’ horizontal flame. I’m lucky It just rained.

  • @GoingtoHecq
    @GoingtoHecq Год назад +13

    I really kinda want to hook up a generator to one of these.

    • @ImTHECarlos98
      @ImTHECarlos98 Год назад

      Get some free energy? Exactly what I was thinking 😂

    • @Billsbob
      @Billsbob Год назад

      Or sell off some to pay for capping later. Either way, seems a lot of untapped potential. No pun intended

  • @elizabethhestevold1340
    @elizabethhestevold1340 Год назад +1

    Good Work. Men.Thank You.🇺🇸🇩🇰🌷😍🌅🙏⏳

  • @francescocornaggia9560
    @francescocornaggia9560 3 месяца назад

    Oil companies should be obliged to give a percentege of their huge prifits to fix the problem directly or by funding people like this marvellous people.

  • @leocrown8627
    @leocrown8627 Год назад +7

    one question I have is why on earth did nay sane person let people build on top of an ex oil well that had not been plugged

    • @kkirschkk
      @kkirschkk Год назад +6

      a lot of the time people either dont know or assume its something else like an old pipe or a land marker [that also looks like these pipes], or the construction crews discover them and just build over them to not delay construction [which is expensive for them]

    • @bubbleologyresearchinterna7729
      @bubbleologyresearchinterna7729 Год назад +3

      Well, in Los Angeles real estate is really expensive and the builder will claim to mitigate. In the bayou, there are a lot of really poor folk. And some people just dont care.

  • @tmbchwldt3508
    @tmbchwldt3508 Год назад +41

    One wonders how the permit to even drill or run a well isn’t connected to pre-paying a fund to later plug it.

    • @presterjohn1697
      @presterjohn1697 Год назад

      Gotta love the western mind. Pollute, destroy, and repeat.

    • @tmbchwldt3508
      @tmbchwldt3508 Год назад +7

      @@presterjohn1697 even better: privatize earnings, but socialize the cost. In Germany for example we will be paying for „lost profits“ of lignite and nuclear power plants - so much in fact that with the new energy crisis they prefer their plants to be forced to shut off because the payoff is higher than actual profits. Completely perverted.

    • @rafaelperalta1676
      @rafaelperalta1676 Год назад +4

      @@tmbchwldt3508 we live in such a world. These greedy people make money out of nature and leave the consequences for the others to solve.

    • @RDKirbyN
      @RDKirbyN Год назад +4

      Cause it simply doesn't make money to clean up after yourself. And when these folks have enough to buy political leverage, they don't have to

    • @alexhamon9261
      @alexhamon9261 Год назад +1

      Especially deep offshore wells, like Taylor Energy's well that was lost in a landslide 10 miles off the Louisiana coast that's been spewing upwards of 29,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico every day nonstop for the last 18 years.

  • @scottwitkowski1298
    @scottwitkowski1298 Год назад +1

    This man is 1 of the few Corporate Executives I don't hate. It's admirable that he choosing to do this with his retirement. Especially considerin the fact that we know he's wealthy.

  • @wybuchowyukomendant
    @wybuchowyukomendant Год назад +2

    Loving the name, "well done", it says everything.

  • @aenorist2431
    @aenorist2431 Год назад +7

    Also of course take into state trust funds for every plugging before its ever drilled.
    That has to just be upfront expense to the company so they can't ever escape it with bankrupcy ... the funds are already with the state, and are only released if the company plugged the well (properly) themselves.

    • @codename495
      @codename495 Год назад

      That wouldn’t work. They would just pay the deposit and never close the well, the. The state would have a backlog of unplugged wells that they are responsible for.

  • @honestlynate7922
    @honestlynate7922 Год назад +6

    I would be more than willing to take on a job doing this how could I apply?

    • @honestlynate7922
      @honestlynate7922 Год назад

      @Bend Over nah, I'm not a felon, I don't need to work in fast food . I have a great job, I'd just be willing to do this instead.

  • @markhottman2652
    @markhottman2652 Год назад +1

    Smart people doing SMARTER THINGS 👍

  • @raymondhernandez1486
    @raymondhernandez1486 Год назад

    Nice Single pole rig I run a double pole rig just plug 3 wells last week too

  • @sharonhill2602
    @sharonhill2602 Год назад +14

    Shame the government can’t tax oil companies and give the money to this guy’s charity

    • @uncleandy7983
      @uncleandy7983 Год назад

      The government taxes the hell out of oil companies.......but they don't want to use that money for projects like this.

  • @luifi1369
    @luifi1369 Год назад +3

    Why they dont use the methane as fuel to produce energy ?

  • @dertythegrower
    @dertythegrower Год назад +1

    Big respect.

  • @michaelmelancon2633
    @michaelmelancon2633 Год назад

    Just commenting to give this video a boost in the algorithm, I never even thought about something like this.

  • @aburr1537
    @aburr1537 Год назад +9

    Man our parents have failed us...

  • @Manjunathnswamy
    @Manjunathnswamy Год назад +2

    India also have failed borewell holes ,some children fell and died but still abandoned as open

  • @Ash-nb6rj
    @Ash-nb6rj Год назад

    Wow very interesting...I had no idea about these wells 😳

  • @williamchurchill3174
    @williamchurchill3174 Год назад

    Brilliant video. A source of greenhouse gases I have not seen before.

  • @peteryvr3329
    @peteryvr3329 Год назад +4

    Finally an oil executive doing the right thing for environment. Sadly we need more payback from the oil industry as there are still many orphan wells around the world especially with corrupted governments.

  • @juliane__
    @juliane__ Год назад +11

    Without knowing, i can pretend in Germany is no such well left. Actually, we had large scale oil drilling too before the 1950ies but never ever heard of leftover wells. I been to drilling companies in lower saxony, i visited wells. This is a fundamental difference between USA and West Europe i would say.

    • @digitalwojtya3669
      @digitalwojtya3669 Год назад +1

      The difference is that:
      Germany is size of one state and definitelly smaller than the biggest states in the US.
      There are no earthquakes in Germany (at least not like there are in the US).
      Germany GDP is bigger than that of California, so its safe to say that they can afford to properly close old wells.
      Also lets not pretend that Germany is an angel of a country and totally perfect (and Im not talking about historic events but rather some regarding energy politics in europe + the fact that they mine ton of brown coal which is one of the worst for the environment)

  • @voranartsirisubsoontorn9010
    @voranartsirisubsoontorn9010 Год назад

    Thank you

  • @shirleyhaugaard9643
    @shirleyhaugaard9643 8 месяцев назад

    Wow !!! Thanks!

  • @e.p5109
    @e.p5109 Год назад +4

    The key thing was he’s reshaping the universe he actually want to exist

  • @ferkeap
    @ferkeap Год назад +4

    Fit these wells with a closed loops so they can be use for heat pumps.
    This also can be a revenue, $1-2000, where a user pays a fee for the loop.
    This can used to plug more well

  • @stickynorth
    @stickynorth Год назад +1

    To quote the cinematic classic, Carrie... PLUG IT UP! PLUG IT UP! PLUG IT UP!

  • @erdinaastrid
    @erdinaastrid Год назад

    Well, well done 👏

  • @MAYANKSHARMAwithU
    @MAYANKSHARMAwithU Год назад +6

    0:24 This guy can actually smell the methane gas which is an odorless, colorless gas. I think he has real superpower.

    • @ignasanchezl
      @ignasanchezl Год назад +4

      Probably smelling the sulfur lmao

  • @davidt6849
    @davidt6849 Год назад +7

    Wish I had one of those orphan wells that leak 22lbs of methane an hour in my yard.
    Free gas... At these prices...

    • @galaxius1884
      @galaxius1884 Год назад

      You... do know Methane and Gasoline aren't the same things right?

    • @davidt6849
      @davidt6849 Год назад +1

      @@galaxius1884 i do, methane is natural gas... Which the world outside the US (yes there is a whole world out there) calls gas, only Americans (which 95 percent of the world is not) call gasoline/petrol gas..

  • @MrNatronimo
    @MrNatronimo Год назад +1

    If anyone is interested in fixing these issues check out Sarah Stogner running for rail road commission in Texas (Rail road commission is in charge of oil and gas in Texas) she’s for domestic production but done properly and environmentally friendly

  • @e.p5109
    @e.p5109 Год назад +1

    Brooo love these guys

  • @mollielacey7428
    @mollielacey7428 Год назад +2

    I love how many environmental videos complain about emissions from regular old cars.
    meanwhile, huge business gets to do shit like this!

  • @elluisito000
    @elluisito000 Год назад +4

    This is a well researched video.

    • @Bryan-ks6cw
      @Bryan-ks6cw Год назад

      well done I would say

    • @ObesePuppies
      @ObesePuppies Год назад

      I don’t think it is, the guy “plugging” the wells is a retired oil exec. So that’s a huge red flag, but they just brush it off by making it seem like he’s somehow redeeming himself now 🤔 they should investigate his “nonprofit “ because it just has the signs of a scam, “retired oil exec” pshh. Come on

    • @elluisito000
      @elluisito000 Год назад

      @@ObesePuppies well... that is a good observation

  • @oliviaboadi7167
    @oliviaboadi7167 Год назад

    Good work done

  • @TsunamiAdventures
    @TsunamiAdventures Год назад

    This explains a lot, never knew

  • @stickynorth
    @stickynorth Год назад +2

    Also time to nationalize the oil and gas industry!

  • @rafaelperalta1676
    @rafaelperalta1676 Год назад +7

    Nice job, greedy ones.

    • @Eusantdac
      @Eusantdac Год назад

      Greed is ruining us, everywhere.

  • @williambrown8372
    @williambrown8372 Год назад

    I remember finding one in the woods were going camping with my dad. We threw a match down it and that thing was shutting out fire for days. We used it as a cook stove, worked well with cast iron.

  • @yugotime1598
    @yugotime1598 Год назад +2

    When people get laid off due to a downturn in production, those same people could continue being employed doing this.

  • @jadencawley6942
    @jadencawley6942 Год назад +3

    There should be some sort of mandatory down payment on new oil wells that would cover the cost of plugging the well of it failed

  • @wallacesouza2678
    @wallacesouza2678 Год назад +16

    I'VE BEEN SEEING POST EVERYWHERE ABOUT FOREX TRADING AND CRYPTO CURRENCY, A LOT OF PEOPLE KEEP SAYING THINGS ABOUT THIS TRADING PLATFORMS PLEASE CAN SOMEONE LINK ME TO SOMEBODY WHO CAN PUT ME THROUGH..?

    • @montserratherrero782
      @montserratherrero782 Год назад

      Trading with her is %100, she is legit and
      sure in trading unlike others.

    • @Simeonsaater
      @Simeonsaater Год назад

      Wow l'm just shock someone mentioned
      expert Mrs Olivera Jane okhumalo, I thought
      I'm the only one trading with her, She helped
      me recover what i lost trying to trade my
      self.

    • @marinefernandez3166
      @marinefernandez3166 Год назад

      God bless the day i came across your
      number
      on RUclips. You are God sent ma'am
      always
      remain thankful to you.

    • @carolineknudsen5306
      @carolineknudsen5306 Год назад

      @Anna Jensen Ohhh yeah I have her contact I have been trading with her also

    • @carolineknudsen5306
      @carolineknudsen5306 Год назад

      @Anna Jensen Give her a call, or sms direct

  • @richarddamiano9223
    @richarddamiano9223 Год назад

    THIS EXZEC IS A HERO,,HATS OFF TOO YOU

  • @popcornmaster3172
    @popcornmaster3172 Год назад

    Nice work

  • @DarkGT
    @DarkGT Год назад +5

    Why not collecting the methane? Sure it contains other mixes of gases, but there is energy being wasted here.

    • @ryanwallace983
      @ryanwallace983 Год назад +2

      Not worth it, it’s not that productive, it’s not really that each orphan well alone is so damaging, it’s the number of them

    • @RapTapTap69
      @RapTapTap69 Год назад +1

      It's kind of like trying to collect the methane from cow farts. Sure it's there. It could be used to make energy but you're getting so little no matter how much money you put into it. Same with gold. There is gold in lots of rivers in the united states and Canada but there's so little that actually panning or sluicing it will never make you any money

    • @DarkGT
      @DarkGT Год назад

      @@RapTapTap69 There is a real thing about trying to collect it. I have seen documentary using bags to collect it right from the cow's rear. Also there is a way to collect it from the poop too, and it's a real way to produce methane.

    • @RapTapTap69
      @RapTapTap69 Год назад +2

      @@DarkGT I know. That's why I used it as an example. The investments are massive but the actual results are abysmal.

    • @bubbleologyresearchinterna7729
      @bubbleologyresearchinterna7729 Год назад

      @@RapTapTap69 There are a lot of lower hanging fruit with more bang for the buck to collect first. Orphan wells are way way down the list (amounts are too small)

  • @kabangukabangu2529
    @kabangukabangu2529 Год назад +5

    If I found one on my property, I'll build a system to collect and store the methane

    • @lokensga
      @lokensga Год назад

      How much would that cost? How would you sell it, assuming that it produces more than you can use? What's your breakeven level of production? How many years of production can one get out of an abandoned well?

  • @EverythingHR
    @EverythingHR Год назад

    Compliance is not about doing what we say, but about making sure that what we do is what people want and need.

  • @Verdeverso
    @Verdeverso Год назад

    Amazing!