The Railroad Commission of Texas plugged 2,022 orphaned wells during fiscal year 2026, surpassing the Texas Legislature’s performance measure by 300 wells, or 18.9 percent, according to a Sept. 30 news release from the agency.
The milestone matters because orphaned wells, which have no responsible operator actively maintaining them, can pose risks to land and groundwater. The commission said about 86 percent of oil and gas wells are plugged by responsible operators, leaving the agency to address those that are not.
According to the release, orphaned wells are inactive, noncompliant wells that have been dormant for at least 12 months and whose operators have had delinquent Organizational Reports, known as Form P-5, for more than 12 months. Once a well is designated as orphaned, the commission said, the agency assumes monitoring and plugging oversight through supervised contractors. It prioritizes high-risk wells based on age, location, condition and environmental impact, the agency said.
The commission said the fiscal year 2026 well-plugging initiative cost $125,643,478. Funding comes from federal and state appropriations and from industry contributions through the agency’s Oil and Gas Regulation and Cleanup Fund and production taxes, according to the release.
Wei Wang, executive director of the Railroad Commission, said in the release that protecting Texas land and groundwater requires “decisive action” and that the agency’s fiscal year 2026 accomplishments reflect its “firm dedication to environmental and public safety.”
The release also pointed to two bills enacted during the previous legislative session. According to the agency, SB 1146 streamlines operator plugging processes for orphaned wells on or near their leases, while SB 1150 requires operators to plug wells more than 25 years old that have been inactive for at least 15 years.