High Plains Gas Inc. is about to post a nearly $6.8 million bond to prevent Wyoming from claiming and plugging nearly 3,000 non-producing coal-bed methane wells the company still hopes to bring back online, Chief Executive Officer Ed Presley said.
Company officials have assured the state they will have the bond within days, Wyoming Oil and Gas Supervisor Mark Watson told the Casper Star-Tribune Tuesday.
High Plains Gas presented an adequate plan for resuming production after testing the wells to make sure they won’t leak, Watson said.
The company has received a line of credit from a person he declined to identify who will cover the bond payments, Presley said.
Wyoming officials have faced a growing problem with a recent bust in the Powder River Basin’s coal-bed methane play. Weak gas prices coupled with declining production have prompted many small companies to abandon their wells without shutting them in and cleaning them up.
Last year, Gov. Matt Mead announced a $7.7 million plan to close 1,200 wells by 2017. The state is on track to plug about 400 wells this year, officials have said.
If High Plains failed to post its bond, the number of wells on the state’s plugging list would more than double.
