Oil Companies Must Set Aside More Money to Plug Wells, a New Rule Says. But It Won’t Be Enough.

[AlexB23]

Hello guys and gals. This is an article by ProPublica, an open-access, non-profit news (ProPublica copyright info, Creative Commons license) agency that covers current events. The Bureau of Land Management made a math mistake which could lead to $400M in money taxpayers must shell out to clean up the mess made by oil companies, specifically sealing up old oil wells. Article link: Oil Companies Must Set Aside More Money to Plug Wells, a New Rule Says. But It Won’t Be Enough.


Here is a summary of the ProPublica article on the math error. ProPublica has very lax copyright regulations:

In an article published on April 22, 2024 by ProPublica's Mark Olalde and Capital & Main's Nick Bowlin, the authors report on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalizing a new rule that requires oil and gas companies to set aside more money as bonds to guarantee they plug old wells on federal land. However, the authors find that the new rule does not go far enough in ensuring taxpayers are protected from industry cleanup costs, as the BLM underestimated plugging costs by $400 million due to a math error.

The rule also does not address the shriveling market for surety policies, which are used as bonds and becoming increasingly difficult for oil companies to obtain. Despite these concerns, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and environmental groups praised the changes, while some critics argue that the shortfall between plugging costs and available funds is in the tens of billions.

 

[Pommer]

Hello guys and gals. This is an article by ProPublica, an open-access, non-profit news (ProPublica copyright info, Creative Commons license) agency that covers current events. The Bureau of Land Management made a math mistake which could lead to $400M in money taxpayers must shell out to clean up the mess made by oil companies, specifically sealing up old oil wells. Article link: Oil Companies Must Set Aside More Money to Plug Wells, a New Rule Says. But It Won’t Be Enough.


Here is a summary of the ProPublica article on the math error. ProPublica has very lax copyright regulations:

In an article published on April 22, 2024 by ProPublica's Mark Olalde and Capital & Main's Nick Bowlin, the authors report on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalizing a new rule that requires oil and gas companies to set aside more money as bonds to guarantee they plug old wells on federal land. However, the authors find that the new rule does not go far enough in ensuring taxpayers are protected from industry cleanup costs, as the BLM underestimated plugging costs by $400 million due to a math error.

The rule also does not address the shriveling market for surety policies, which are used as bonds and becoming increasingly difficult for oil companies to obtain. Despite these concerns, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and environmental groups praised the changes, while some critics argue that the shortfall between plugging costs and available funds is in the tens of billions.

Here’s hoping that Big Oil will find it in their hearts to do “the right thing” and help defray this $400M shortfall.

If that strikes one as “Pollyannish”, then we may have come to the nub of the “problem”:
Coporations operate under the good will of the government, and if government has a problem caused by, (in part), corporations, these persons (as Mitt informed us) will have to step up and do their “civil duty”.

The days of “corporations’ only consideration is to the shareholders” are about over.

 

[AlexB23]

Here’s hoping that Big Oil will find it in their hearts to do “the right thing” and help defray this $400M shortfall.

If that strikes one as “Pollyannish”, then we may have come to the nub of the “problem”:
Coporations operate under the good will of the government, and if government has a problem caused by, (in part), corporations, these persons (as Mitt informed us) will have to step up and do their “civil duty”.

The days of “corporations’ only consideration is to the shareholders” are about over.

Well, to be honest, I do not trust that Big Oil will step up and do the right thing. Companies only care about themselves, and the richest shareholders, not the general population.

 

[durangodawood]

Timing your exit so the public picks up cleanup costs is key to successful resource extraction capitalism.

 

[Desk trauma]

The days of “corporations’ only consideration is to the shareholders” are about over.

Why lie to yourself like that?

 

[AlexB23]

Why lie to yourself like that?

I mostly agree with you. Companies still care about the shareholders, but only the ones who have the most stock. Someone with one share would not have as much say, but hey, that is how stocks work.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Timing your exit so the public picks up cleanup costs is key to successful resource extraction capitalism.

Seems to be a trend amongst recent Republican presidents, too.

 

[Desk trauma]

I mostly agree with you. Companies still care about the shareholders, but only the ones who have the most stock. Someone with one share would not have as much say, but hey, that is how stocks work.

Corporations learned their lesson from asbestos and CFCs. Taking responsibility for externalities in any meaningful way is off the table.

 

[durangodawood]

Corporations learned their lesson from asbestos and CFCs. Taking responsibility for externalities in any meaningful way is off the table.

I have a certain degree of sympathy for industry when they widely adopt materials and processes before their toxicity is understood.

But I think industry needs to be fully held to account for its intransigence when they drag their feet on replacing those materials once the dangers are well known.

None of this is the case at all with abandoned wells and mines etc. Thats just deliberately leaving your mess for others to be poisoned by.

 

[AlexB23]

Corporations learned their lesson from asbestos and CFCs. Taking responsibility for externalities in any meaningful way is off the table.

Well, it took half a century for companies to learn from asbestos, and a international oversight to stop the CFCs (Montreal Protocol in 1987).