{"id":21399,"date":"2021-10-15T16:19:10","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T20:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=21399"},"modified":"2025-12-03T15:25:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T20:25:28","slug":"not-so-marginal-wells-and-the-need-for-strong-epa-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2021\/10\/15\/not-so-marginal-wells-and-the-need-for-strong-epa-regulations\/","title":{"rendered":"Not-so-marginal wells and the need for strong EPA regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"

The reality is that these wells make up about 80% of all active wells in the U.S, over 560,000 in total. These are not the mom-and-pop operations some portray \u2014 rather, the vast majority of marginal wells are owned by large, well-capitalized companies with significant resources to curb wasteful emissions.<\/p>\n

As the Environmental Protection Agency readies landmark rules to limit methane pollution from the nation\u2019s existing oil and gas wells, ensuring those standards apply to marginal sites is critical for protecting our climate and the local communities breathing harmful pollution from these wells.<\/p>\n

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The myth of the mom and pop<\/strong><\/p>\n

Industry trade associations have for years portrayed marginal well owners as universally small businesses or \u201cmom and pops\u201d who cannot afford to take steps to reduce emissions. The data tell another story.<\/p>\n

E<\/strong>DF factsheet on marginal wells available here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

According to EDF analysis, marginal wells \u2014 low-production sites with average combined oil and gas production of less than 15 barrels of oil equivalent per day \u2014 are overwhelmingly owned by large companies that have significant resources to deploy commonsense solutions to reduce energy waste and stop pollution. In fact, a small handful of very large companies \u2014 just 93 in total, each owning over 1,000 wells \u2014 dominate ownership of the nation\u2019s marginal well sites, controlling nearly half of the total.<\/p>\n

In all, over 75% of marginal well sites are owned by companies with more than 100 active wells. Meanwhile, small operators with fewer than 10 operating sites control just 4% of these wells nationwide.<\/p>\n

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Recent reporting from Bloomberg<\/em><\/a> highlighted the nation\u2019s largest owner of marginal wells \u2014 a company that owns even more wells than Exxon Mobil \u2014 and the threat of outsized emissions from its roughly 69,000 well sites.<\/p>\n

Ensuring these kinds of well-resourced firms aren\u2019t given a free pass to pollute is critical for protecting the more than 9 million residents living within a half mile of active oil and gas wells across the country.<\/p>\nNot-so-marginal wells and the need for strong EPA regulations <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

Outsized emissions from marginal wells<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the nation\u2019s marginal wells make up 80% of all active wells, they account for just 6% of total oil and gas production \u2014 and scientific research has repeatedly found that these wells drive an outsized share of the industry\u2019s methane and local air pollution.<\/p>\n

These findings play out across several recent peer-reviewed studies focused on low-production well sites:<\/p>\n