Decommissioning offshore oil wells and platforms, which is not included in those figures, will cost several billion dollars. California's withering oil industry As the state extracts less oil, more and more wells sit unused. Do you live within 600 feet of California’s 70,000 active or 35,000 idle wells? CalGEM, previously called the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, collected $4.3 million in such fees in 2018. From Appalachia to the Mountain West, many other states are in a similar predicament, struggling to address cleanup of old oil wells.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 06, 2020 08:37 UTC