Old, passive oil and gas wells emit about 7 times methane than official estimates.

In Canada, inactive and abandoned oil and gas wells have a much larger climate problem than the idea, Emission of methane about seven times more According to a new study by researchers at McGill University, compared to official estimates.

The powerful greenhouse gas is responsible for a third of all global warming and carries 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. But Canada’s efforts to curb methane emissions have focused on active oil and gas sites rather than working decades ago.

McGill’s study states that methane emissions from these wells are approximately 230 kilottines annually, as contrary to the government’s current estimate of 34 kilotonity.

Mary Kang, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at McGill University, said, “Pay attention to the subject – hopefully it will reduce emissions, and smart mitigation strategies will develop more.”

There are about 470,000 non-productive wells across Canada, which are in oil-rich Alberta, but also in BC, Alberta and Ontario. Regulators use separate vocabulary for these wells, such as “passive” or “abandoned”, but they are usually wells that stop production and may require work to plug them and restore the area.

About 68 percent of somehow is plugged by their owners, while the rest are either unplugged or their position is unknown. The study has estimated that about 50,000 wells in Canada are unspecified, most in Ontario.

McGill researchers also found that the relatively small ratio of high emitting wells was responsible for a large part of the leak. They suggest targeting the wells, as well as re -introducing the wells for other uses, such as producing geothermal energy, which will encourage them to monitor longer and prevent methane leaks that pop up.

“For example, a well can emit jointly as 100 wells,” PhD student Z Boutot in Civil Engineering said.

“When we look at the characteristics of the wells, for example, their location or whether they have been plugged or unplaced, we can identify the wells that are at the high risk of emitting methane. And then we can give them priority for the remediation.”

Environment and climate change Canada says it is reviewing research and reviewing it can include how it estimates methane emissions. Estimates are included in the government Annual greenhouse gas emissions Report, which appears around May.

Stay close to the problem

South -Western Ontario sets a long way from the center of the oil industry in Western Canada, but has a long history in oil and gas production. The first commercial oil in North America began working in 1858 in Oil Springs, Onts. Industry has abandoned more than 23,000 known heritage The wells were scattered throughout the region.

“Many people who were exploiting those wells were actually small landlords and drilled thousands and thousands that were never recorded,” a geophysicist and hydrologist Stewart Hamilton said, who works for the Montroos Environmental Group, a firm that works well on the remedial.

He says he was not surprised at the findings of McGill researchers, given what he has seen with wells left in Ontario that are leaked in groundwater and surrounding environment, and are causing headaches for local residents.

Such a problem is that Norfoch County, in Ontaris, is about 15 kilometers from the coast of the Eri Lake.

Paul Jondraden said, “A few days I cannot go out without burning eyes and sore throat,” whose property is with a creek that is well leaked.

The problem for local residents is hydrogen sulfide, a dishonest gas that is wasting their quality of life and causing headaches and other health issues. The well is also leaking methane.

According to recent reports, the county has over 2,600 abandoned gas wells, which are according to Brian Craig, which live well near the leak.

“This is a very serious issue,” he said. “Many of them have been plugged, but there are many that are still leaking.

“And if you combine all methane emanating from these gas wells, it is having a serious impact on climate change.”

Fixing leaked wells usually falls for the zamindars, who complain that it puts a big burden on them, especially when they do not even know how many heritage wells are on their land. It is especially on county -owned land, and the local government is trying to remove it with the help of the province.

“These wells, especially wells, have received some underground pressure, do not respect the boundaries of the municipality, and they do not respect the boundaries in relation to personal property and public property,” said Al Menses, Chief Administrative Officer of Norfolk County, said.

“What we do tries to achieve the province to understand that it is a fieldwide problem and it requires a fieldwide solution.”

Ontario’s abandoned work program provides funds to landlords, which need to plug wells, and in 2023, province Kick in $ 23.6 million To develop a province strategy to deal with old wells. This included $ 6 million annually to double the budget of direct funding and abandoned works program for counties including Norfolk.

There are similar programs as other provinces. Alberta’s orphan Well Association helps to clean the Wales whose operators are out of business. It raises funds through a levy on oil and gas industry, although critics Warned Levi is not enough to support the work.

In 2020, Federal government announced $ 1.7 billion to help clean the wells left in BC, Alberta and Suskechewan.

“I am glad that finally, I think it’s being taken seriously,” Stewart said.

“It will take a long time. But it is not outside our technical capabilities. We can do this.”

Kang has been researching non-productive wells for more than a decade. A Landmark study It did in 2014 on non-productive wells in Pennsylvania, making the US and Canada report methane emissions from their non-productive wells in their official annual estimates.

With new measurements, Kang says that it has a much more representative sample of Canada’s non-productive wells that should improve official estimates.