Characterization and methane emissions potential of non-producing oil and gas wells in Colombia and Argentina

Non-producing oil and gas wells can pose a significant risk to the environment and human health, and contribute to climate change by emitting methane, a potent greenhouse gas. However, the characterization, distribution, and methane emission profile of non-producing wells remain highly uncertain across the world. Here, we present a database analysis of non-producing oil and gas wells across Colombia and Argentina, which are countries with a long history of oil and gas development. By comparing well data from governmental and proprietary databases, we find more than 26,000 oil and gas wells in Colombia, of which about 6,000 (23%) are non-producing and more than 84,000 oil and gas wells in Argentina, of which approximately 51,000 (61%) are non-producing. Using these numbers, we estimate methane emissions from non-producing wells in Colombia and Argentina. In addition, we analyze well attributes such as well depth, well type (e.g., oil and gas), location, and well age and perform a spatial analysis to identify the regions/wells in Colombia and Argentina for field measurements. We find that the provinces of Santa Cruz, Chubut and Neuquén in Argentina, and the departments of Meta, Santander and Casanare in Colombia have the highest number of non-producing wells. Overall, these findings can be used to improve the characterization of existing oil and gas wells and to select representative samples of non-producing wells for methane emission monitoring in Colombia and Argentina.