The Texas Railroad Commission, responsible for overseeing the state’s oil and gas sector, is grappling with an alarming increase in leaking and erupting oil wells. In light of this situation, the commission has formally requested an extra $100 million in emergency funding, which would represent approximately 44% of its total two-year budget. This request comes from Danny Sorrell, the commission’s executive director, who communicated his concerns in a letter sent two months after the agency had presented its annual budget proposal in August. Sorrell indicated that the previously requested $226 million was insufficient to adequately safeguard groundwater and the environment amid rising incidents of well blowouts.

Texas law mandates that the commission employs a priority rating system to decide which wells should be sealed first. Priority 1 wells are categorized as leaking and deemed to present notable environmental, safety, or economic threats. An uncontrolled water flow from a well is classified as an emergency, prompting the agency to respond swiftly to address and plug the well, according to agency spokesperson R.J. DeSilva.

Despite the agency being faced with a budgetary shortfall, it continues to manage actively leaking wells without regard to available funding for such remedial action. Sorrell described this approach as increasingly untenable, resulting in fewer non-emergency wells being plugged each year. He emphasized the urgency of addressing these high-priority wells before they escalate into emergency situations.

The United States is currently dealing with approximately 140,000 orphaned wells, with over 9,000 located in Texas alone, as reported by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Orphaned wells are those that have been abandoned for at least 12 months and lack clear ownership. If left unchecked, these wells can lead to blowouts that release contaminated water into the surrounding environment. Experts have pointed out that the industry’s standard practice of injecting fracking wastewater—which is referred to as produced water—into underground formations exacerbates the issue.

According to Sarah Stogner, an attorney with experience in the oil and gas sector, at least eight wells have experienced leaks and bursts since last October, and these incidents have provided cause for significant concern. One particularly challenging case involved an abandoned well in Imperial, located southwest of Odessa, which took more than two months to seal and incurred $2.5 million in costs for regulators.

Another incident in October occurred at a well in Toyah that released a significant volume of water, resulting in weeks of containment efforts. The responsible company, Kinder Morgan, did not reveal the financial implications of sealing that well. The water involved in these blowouts typically contains harmful chemicals, including hydrogen sulfide, a dangerous and toxic gas.

In recognition of the pressing issues surrounding orphaned wells, Congress allocated $4.7 billion to plug such wells on both public and private land as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted in 2021. Texas received $25 million from this fund in 2022, followed by another $80 million at the start of this year. The Texas Railroad Commission utilized these funds to seal 737 wells, which accounts for just 10% of the estimated orphaned wells in the state, alongside plugging an additional 1,754 wells through a $63 million state-funded initiative.

Unfortunately, these efforts have not sufficiently addressed the growing problem. In his letter to Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, Sorrell emphasized the critical need for financial resources to bolster the inspection team responsible for investigating the causes of these blowouts—an issue correlated with produced water injections. He noted that the commission’s capacity to evaluate and manage these incidents is significantly limited by current resources.

The costs associated with plugging wells have also surged, with an increase of 36% since 2022, impacting the commission’s overall ability to respond effectively.

Leaders from both the oil and gas industry and environmental advocacy groups in Texas have welcomed the commission’s funding request. Ben Sheppard, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, stated his organization’s long-term support for increasing funding for the commission, advocating for more substantial financing from the Legislature for plugging and remediation efforts. He underscored the financial power of the industry, suggesting that a greater share of its revenues should be allocated to addressing these pressing environmental concerns.

Julie Range, a policy manager for the environmental watchdog group Commission Shift, also praised the agency’s funding appeal. She expressed hope that the bolstered investigation team would lead the Railroad Commission to thoroughly examine its approval processes, potentially denying more injection wells that pressure the underground aquifers and elevate the risk of emergency well statuses.

For years, the commission has faced mounting warnings from experts and ranchers regarding the environmental risks these wells present, especially to the region’s delicate groundwater resources. Researchers from Southern Methodist University highlighted a concerning connection between the frequent practice of injecting fracking wastewater underground and the well blowouts reported across the oil-laden Permian Basin—a vast 75,000-square-mile area straddling West Texas and New Mexico.