Split Estate and Wyoming’s Orphaned Well Crisis: The Case of Coalbed Methane Reclamation in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming
Split Estate and Wyoming’s Orphaned Well Crisis: The Case of Coalbed Methane Reclamation in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming
复制标题
斯普利特庄园和怀俄明州的孤井危机：怀俄明州粉河盆地煤层气回收案例
DOI：
10.1525/cse.2017.000455
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发表时间：
2017
期刊：
影响因子：
3.1
通讯作者：
K. B. Walsh
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
K. B. Walsh
本案例介绍了怀俄明州废弃天然气威尔斯井的开发和后续复垦过程中出现的利益相关者冲突，其中发生了土地分割或地表土地和采矿权相互分离。从1998年到2008年，怀俄明州东北部的粉河盆地经历了一场能源繁荣，这是由于技术创新使煤层气（CBM）的开采成为可能。这一繁荣导致在短短十年内，在这个2万平方英里的地区钻了16,000多口威尔斯井。截至2017年5月，由于行业破产和废弃，怀俄明州有4，149口天然气威尔斯井成为孤儿。目前的孤儿威尔斯危机部分是由怀俄明州的地表和矿产所有权拼凑而成的，这是一个被称为分割财产的法律的条件的结果。随着煤层气的繁荣在这一地区展开，然后开始减弱，最明显的挑战出现在停滞的填海活动周围。这起案件阐明了这些挑战，突出了两个案例，即分割财产导致土地所有者和行业经营者之间的问题升级为诉讼。
This case presents the stakeholder conflicts that emerge during the development and subsequent reclamation of abandoned natural gas wells in Wyoming where split estate, or the separation of surface land and mineral rights from one another, occurs. From 1998 to 2008, the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming experienced an energy boom as a result of technological innovation that enabled the extraction of coalbed methane (CBM). The boom resulted in over 16,000 wells being drilled in this 20,000 square-mile region in a single decade. As of May 2017, 4,149 natural gas wells now sit orphaned in Wyoming as a result of industry bankruptcy and abandonment. The current orphaned wells crisis was partially enabled by the patchwork of surface and mineral ownership in Wyoming that is a result of a legal condition referred to as split estate. As the CBM boom unfolded in this landscape and then began to wane, challenges emerged most notably surrounding stalled reclamation activities. This case illuminates these challenges highlighting two instances when split estate contributed to issues between landowners and industry operators which escalated to litigation.