NPR: Abandoned wells are leaking planet-warming methane
UC expert says only some of 4 million wells are leaking, but knowing which ones takes effort
NPR's program Here & Now turned to University of Cincinnati Professor Amy Townsend-Small to explain the extent of leaking oil and gas wells across the United States.
Townsend-Small has been studying the issue at wells across the country. In studies such as her 2021 investigation of the Permian Basin of Texas published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, Townsend-Small found that uncapped, idle oil wells could be leaking millions of kilograms of methane into the atmosphere and surface water each year. It was the first examination of its kind of methane emissions from inactive oil wells in Texas.
Amy Townsend-Small. Photo/Jay Yocic/UC
More recently, Townsend-Small examined the potential benefits of turning off marginal, low-producing wells, which would significantly reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere without impeding production. Turning off wells is a simple and inexpensive process compared to permanently plugging them, leading to a large reduction in methane emissions at relatively low cost. The study was published in the journal PLOS One.
"We have about 1 million active wells in the United States and about 3 million inactive ones. So we need to clean those up," she told NPR.
Townsend-Small said active wells leak more than abandoned ones. But the total scope of the problem has not been determined.
"Because there are so many abandoned wells, we don't know if we've accurately measured or captured how many of these very high-emitting abandoned wells there are," she told NPR.
Featured image at top: UC graduate Jacob Hoschouer takes samples at the site of an oil well in Texas. Photo/Provided
Related Stories
Cancer Center tests treatment using ‘glioblastoma-on-a-chip’ and wafer technology
February 3, 2026
A multidisciplinary team of University of Cincinnati Cancer Center researchers has received a $40,000 Ride Cincinnati grant to study the use of a delayed release preparation or wafer of an immunostimulatory molecule known as IL-15 to stimulate the central nervous system immune system after surgery to remove glioblastoma brain tumors.
University of Cincinnati gets $1.1M for AI physician training
January 30, 2026
The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine has received a four-year, $1.1 million grant to explore using artificial intelligence and personalized learning to improve physician education.
Research findings may lead to new test for endometriosis
January 30, 2026
Endometriosis affects one in 10 women worldwide, and many go years before diagnosis. Symptoms include chronic pelvic pain, heavy bleeding during menstruation and/or sexual intercourse, bloating and fatigue. Katie Burns’ research at the University of Cincinnati is focused on creating a new, non-invasive test for endometriosis, using white blood cells as biomarkers. Burns, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences in the College of Medicine.