Orphaned and abandoned wells are those whose owners are unknown or insolvent. A federal program to plug nearly half a million orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells could create as many as 120,000 energy-sector jobs while cutting methane emissions, according to a new study from Columbia University’s Center for Energy Policy and the nonprofit research institution Resources for the Future (RFF). Orphaned and abandoned wells are those whose owners are unknown or insolvent. “Amid this historic economic downturn, a large federal funding program to plug orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells could deliver stimulative impact by boosting employment quickly in the struggling oil and gas sector while also reducing the emissions that cause climate change,” Jason Bordoff, report co-author and founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, commented in a written statement emailed to Rigzone. Pointing out […]