Oil Firm's Plan To Abandon 1,700 Gulf Wells Risks 'Environmental Disaster'

"Responsibility for cast-off wells, pipelines could fall to other companies and taxpayers"

"A Houston oil company that grew into one of the largest producers in the Gulf of Mexico before going bust last year is planning to abandon hundreds of oil wells and pipelines it acquired over the last decade, potentially adding to the fast-growing tangle of neglected oil and gas infrastructure off the Louisiana coast.

In its second bankruptcy filing in less than three years, Fieldwood Energy LLC has proposed abandoning what could amount to 1,715 wells, 281 pipelines and 276 platforms.

The wells Fieldwood wants to discard account for about 6% of the active wells in the Gulf. Responsibility for the unwanted infrastructure would likely fall to past owners, including BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron, or the federal government — and, therefore, taxpayers."

Tristan Baurick reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune July 2, 2021.

Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 07/06/2021