Civitas Commits to Plugging Orphaned Wells in Colorado

By: Civitas Resources, Inc. via Business Wire

January 19, 2022 at 08:00 AM EST

Company volunteers to plug wells that were orphaned by their previous operators throughout the Front Range of Northern Colorado

Civitas Resources, Inc. (“Civitas” or the “Company”) today announced its commitment to voluntarily plug 42 wells that were orphaned by previous operators located in and around its operating areas in Adams, Arapahoe, Elbert, Larimer, and Weld counties of Colorado.

“Orphaned” wells are wells unrelated to Civitas that were abandoned by their former operators and whose cleanup would otherwise be the responsibility of the state of Colorado.

Project Canary, a Denver-based climate technology company, will join Civitas as the emissions monitoring partner for this endeavor.

“Civitas is committed to producing energy in the most responsible manner and will always strive to be part of the solution for challenges faced by our communities,” said Civitas Chairman Ben Dell. “Today’s announcement further demonstrates our culture of responsibility and accountability to our neighbors. Stepping up to plug orphaned wells is the right thing for our industry to do,” he said.

Orphaned wells are often of older vintage and, at times, left in poor condition. When wells are left unplugged, they can emit greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, which amplify the effects of climate change. According to the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), Colorado has approximately 410 total orphaned wells.

Plugging abandoned wells is one of many important ways to accelerate Colorado’s commitment to reducing statewide greenhouse gas pollution, relative to 2005 levels, by 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050.

“We are proud to eliminate these wells for the benefit of the communities where we live and work,” said Brian Cain, Civitas Chief Sustainability Officer. “As Colorado’s first carbon neutral oil and gas producer, this commitment, in partnership with Project Canary, aligns with our goal of reducing emissions that cause climate change throughout our state and advances climate leadership within our peer group and industry,” he said. “As we make this commitment, we call on our industry peers to similarly step up and help us tackle this statewide issue together.”

Project Canary is committed to providing continuous monitoring and TrustWell engineering services for all 42 wells, which is an expected value of $250,000. Project Canary will install methane monitoring devices before the commencement of P&A activities to establish the emission profile of wells. Once P&A activities are completed, the Project Canary monitoring devices will remain on-site to ensure no residual fugitive emissions from locations.

“As a mission-driven B-Corp, it’s always our policy to do well by doing good,” said Project Canary CEO and Co-Founder Chris Romer. “Helping Civitas and the state of Colorado clean up these legacy, abandoned wells is something our team is excited to participate in. Civitas has demonstrated their ESG leadership in this new era of energy development, and we’re proud to further our partnership with them.”

Civitas’ commitment includes plugging all orphaned wells located in and around the Company’s areas of operations that are known to the COGCC as of January 1, 2022. This commitment effectively includes all communities surrounding Denver and the Front Range of Northern Colorado. Municipalities where Civitas has ongoing operations or adjacent operations that are excluded from this list (e.g., Denver, Broomfield, Boulder) do not have any orphaned wells known to the COGCC.

About Civitas

Civitas Resources, Inc. is Colorado’s first carbon neutral oil & natural gas producer and is focused on developing and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin. The Company is committed to pursuing compelling economic returns and cash flow while delivering best-in-class cost leadership and capital efficiency. Civitas is dedicated to safety, environmental responsibility, and implementing industry-leading practices to create a positive local impact. For more information about Civitas, please visit www.civitasresources.com