The orphan-well census
172,368 documented orphaned wells
Unplugged, leaking-prone wells with no solvent operator left to plug them — and a $4.7 billion federal program racing to close them. WellCensus maps every documented orphan from the USGS inventory and state registries, each with its own page, coordinates and county.
Documented orphans
172,368
States affected
26
With documented orphans
Federal funding
$4.7B
IIJA orphaned-well program
USGS baseline
117,672
2022 documented-orphan inventory
Dataset updated . Red points are documented orphaned wells. Zoom for detail; click any point for its record.
Orphaned wells by state
| State | Documented orphans | All wells |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 31,846 | 224,189 |
| Oklahoma | 24,965 | 456,077 |
| Ohio | 24,569 | 242,049 |
| Louisiana | 15,369 | 225,721 |
| West Virginia | 14,124 | 118,569 |
| Kentucky | 13,034 | 193,973 |
| Kansas | 11,468 | 474,051 |
| Illinois | 8,478 | 174,493 |
| New York | 7,029 | 46,514 |
| Texas | 5,854 | 964,375 |
| Missouri | 4,892 | 4,892 |
| California | 3,338 | 242,471 |
| Wyoming | 1,323 | 129,955 |
| Indiana | 1,066 | 78,832 |
| North Dakota | 953 | 43,680 |
| New Mexico | 652 | 141,088 |
| Mississippi | 545 | 34,924 |
| Michigan | 510 | 85,673 |
| Tennessee | 481 | 481 |
| Nebraska | 479 | 22,021 |
| Montana | 438 | 42,009 |
| Arkansas | 413 | 33,791 |
| Colorado | 409 | 124,327 |
| Utah | 72 | 40,139 |
| Alabama | 49 | 15,091 |
| Alaska | 12 | 12 |
Hardest-hit counties
| County | Documented orphans |
|---|---|
| Venango County, PA | 6,093 |
| Caddo County, LA | 4,844 |
| McKean County, PA | 4,636 |
| Washington County, OK | 3,743 |
| Washington County, OH | 3,315 |
| Warren County, PA | 3,306 |
| Allegany County, NY | 3,047 |
| Butler County, PA | 2,913 |
| Okmulgee County, OK | 2,735 |
| Nowata County, OK | 2,391 |
| Montgomery County, KS | 2,245 |
| Monroe County, OH | 2,110 |
| Elk County, PA | 2,045 |
| Creek County, OK | 1,760 |
| Forest County, PA | 1,725 |
| Jackson County, MO | 1,711 |
| Cattaraugus County, NY | 1,640 |
| Union County, LA | 1,620 |
| Ritchie County, WV | 1,528 |
| Rogers County, OK | 1,482 |
Counties with fewer than 25 catalogued wells are not ranked.
Frequently asked questions
How many orphaned oil and gas wells are there in the United States?
WellCensus documents 172,368 orphaned wells — unplugged wells with no solvent operator of record — combining the USGS documented-orphaned-wells inventory (117,672 wells, 2022) with state-registry orphan flags. Estimates of undocumented orphans run into the hundreds of thousands more.
What is an orphaned well?
An orphaned (or abandoned) well is an oil or gas well that is no longer producing and has no financially solvent operator responsible for plugging it. Unplugged orphans can leak methane and contaminate groundwater; plugging them is the target of $4.7 billion in federal funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Which state has the most orphaned wells?
Pennsylvania leads with 31,846 documented orphaned wells in the current inventory.
Who pays to plug orphaned wells?
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (2021) appropriated $4.7 billion for orphaned-well plugging — most of it granted to state programs through the Department of the Interior. States also fund plugging through bonding forfeitures and dedicated orphan-well funds.
Sources: USGS Documented Orphaned Wells dataset (doi 10.5066/P91PJETI, 2022 snapshot) + state regulator orphan flags. Documented counts are a floor — undocumented orphans are estimated in the hundreds of thousands. See methodology.