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Apply Now! DEP Conventional Oil & Gas Methane Reduction Well Plugging Grant Applications Due Dec. 16; $44.4 Million Available - Only 10 Applicants Applied For 77 Wells So Far

The Department of Environmental Protection will be accepting applications until December 16 for the new Methane Reduction Grants Program to plug marginally producing conventional oil and gas wells.

Only 10 applicants applied so far to plug 77 wells, according to DEP’s report to the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board on December 5.

DEP has $44.4 million available from the federal Inflation Reduction Act to provide grants under this program.

Conventional oil and gas facilities account for 80 percent of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania, according to DEP, because they have done little or nothing to control them. Read more here.

The Methane Reduction Program includes two types of grants.

The MERP Small Operator Assistance Grant is available to operators with ten or fewer wells, qualified well pluggers or third parties.

The MERP General Assistance Grant is designed for operators with 11 or more wells, qualified well pluggers or third parties.

Qualified conventional wells under this program are wells that produces less than 90 mcf gas per day or 15 barrels of oil per day.

The maximum subaward cannot exceed $20,000 for every eligible well plugged that is an MCW of a depth of 3,000 feet or less or the actual cost of the qualified well plugger to plug the well, whichever is less.

Applicants can apply to plug MCWs with a maximum total reimbursement amount of $420,000 per application within each application period.

The maximum subaward cannot exceed $35,000 for every eligible well plugged that is an orphan well of a depth of greater than 3,000 feet or the actual cost of the qualified well plugger to plug the well, whichever is less.

Another grant round will be opening in 2025.

Visit DEP's Methane Reduction Grants Program webpage for all the details.

Orphan Well Plugging Grants

DEP is continuing to accept applications on a first-come, first-served basis under the separate program to plug orphan conventional oil and gas wells abandoned by their owners.

So far, DEP reports it has received 24 applications to plug 117 orphan wells, according to DEP’s report to the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board on December 5.

This program is part of the $76 million in funding Pennsylvania received from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for plugging wells abandoned by conventional oil and gas well owners.

The program offers grants of up to $40,000 to plug orphan wells 3,000 feet deep or less, and up to $70,000 for wells deeper than 3,000 feet.

The grants will be available to qualified well pluggers for orphan wells, which are wells that were abandoned by conventional oil and gas well owners before April 18, 1985.

Visit DEP's Orphan Well Plugging Grant Program webpage for all the details.

Upcoming Event:

-- Penn State Extension Hosts Dec. 12 Webinar On Carbon Reduction Credits In Oil & Gas Well Plugging [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 - Abandoned Shale Gas Wells Doubled From Last Year; Failure To Comply With Court Order To Plug Conventional Wells; Abandoned Waste Injection Well [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - December 7 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 91 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In December 7 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Sees ‘Very Significant Budget Gap’ In Funding Oil & Gas Regulation Program Due To Reduced Permit Fee Revenue [PaEN]

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs Up 1 To 16 From Last Week; 21 On Aug. 23

-- DCED PA Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council Meets Dec. 12 To Discuss Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater; New EPA Methane Emissions Reduction Program; Other Updates [PaEN]

-- What Will Shale Gas Leave Behind? DEP Issues 10 Violations To Big Dog Energy, LLC, Diversified Production LLC For Abandoning Shale Gas Wells; Violations For Shale Gas Abandonments More Than Doubled In 2024 [PaEN]