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State Oil and Gas Board requests $3 million for emergency well‑plugging; identifies roughly 900 orphan‑well sites
Summary
The Mississippi Oil and Gas Board asked the subcommittee for a $3 million appropriation for emergency well plugging and additional spending authority for federal grant funds; the board said it has identified roughly 900 orphan‑well sites and has completed an initial federal‑grant plugging phase.
The State Oil and Gas Board told the Appropriations Subcommittee it seeks a $3 million appropriation for the emergency plugging fund and additional spending authority to accept federal plugging grants, saying the work addresses orphan and abandoned wells across Mississippi.
Executive Director Jess Nune told the committee the board agrees with LBO recommendations for its FY2026 request but wants the $3 million for emergency plugging funds treated as an appropriation for the state plugging program rather than general operating funds. The board also sought $2.5 million in spending authority for expected federal formula grants and said total spending authority requested for FY2026 is about $9.1 million.
Nune said the board completed a $5 million initial federal grant that funded surface remediation and plugging work for 41 project sites. The board is executing a $6.8 million formula grant phase focused on locating, identifying and characterizing sites; the board reported it has identified roughly 900 orphan‑well sites and has a current queue of about 450 sites under active consideration. “We’ve got 900 plus orphan well sites that we’ve identified, but we’re addressing half of those right now,” the director said.
The board said plugging costs have risen substantially; a job that once cost $45,000–$50,000 now costs about $90,000 on average, reducing the number of wells that can be plugged per dollar of funding. The board said it currently has four contractors under contract for plugging and remediation, and that most contractors are Mississippi firms when possible.
The board said it does not seek additional staff positions or general‑fund operating dollars but needs authority to spend incoming federal grants and to replace aging fleet vehicles. It said state money helps leverage federal program awards and said the Department of the Interior has been timely in processing invoices for federal grant work.
Committee members asked about the queue, contractor capacity and whether the board can spend additional state plug funds in the next fiscal year; the director said the board can spend additional funds and needs the appropriation to qualify for further federal matching and formula funds.
