<article><p class="lead">President Joe Biden's administration is pitching potential cooperation with the US oil and gas industry to plug abandoned, "orphan" wells across federal and private lands to prevent methane leaks and create energy sector jobs.</p><p>"We have over 100,000 wellheads that are not capped, leaking methane," Biden today said at his first formal White House press conference. "We can put as many pipe fitters and miners to work capping wells at the same price that they would charge to dig those wells." Biden on the campaign trail said plugging orphan wells would produce 250,000 jobs and cut down on methane leaks.</p><p>Plugging abandoned wells is an important priority for the administration — and one not limited to federal lands, principal deputy assistant interior secretary Laura Daniel-Davis said at a virtual forum hosted by the Interior Department today. "We see that as a real opportunity to put people to work in communities where all of your companies do work," Daniel-Davis told oil industry representatives during the forum convened information for the upcoming changes to the federal oil and gas development program.</p><p>There were almost 57,000 orphaned wells across the US in 2018, but only 1,700 of those were on federal lands, according to state regulators' group Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. "The good news is on federal lands, the number of orphan wells that we are having to deal with is very small," American Exploration and Production Council vice president Wendy Kirchoff said at the forum.</p><p>"With it being a priority of both the industry and the Biden administration, we would look forward to the opportunity to work with you on this," American Petroleum Institute (API) senior vice president Frank Macchiarola said. Working to mitigate emissions within producers' operations is part of a climate action plan the API <a href="http://direct.argusmedia.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/2199480">released</a> today. </p><p>"I just want to be clear that we do not want to limit ourselves to thinking that our partnership will be limited to federal lands on this issue," Daniel-Davis said. "It is a really important component of how we look at building back better," she said, in a reference to Biden's economic recovery plan. </p><p>Most orphan wells are concentrated in a number of states, with Kentucky holding the most, at 13,300 as of 2018, according to state regulators. It cost $19,000 on average to cap a well.</p><p class="bylines">By Haik Gugarats</p></article>
