State orphan-well program
Historic maps show roughly located wells on a ranch. A drone survey at 20 m line spacing pinpoints casing dipoles, and ground magnetometers confirm each before plugging crews mobilize.
Applications
Orphaned & Abandoned Wells
Finding lost wells with drone magnetics.
Thousands of undocumented oil, gas and water wells leak methane and brine across the United States. Steel casing produces a strong, distinctive magnetic anomaly, so drone magnetics can locate buried casings over large areas in days, not months of walking.
Drone-enabled
What we map
- Buried steel well casings
- Cut-off and covered wellheads
- Associated pits and flowlines
What you receive
- Well candidate list with coordinates and confidence
- Magnetic anomaly maps
- Field verification support
Recommended methods
- Drone Magnetics — UAV-borne magnetometer surveys
- Ground Magnetics — Walking and cart magnetometer surveys
- Frequency-Domain EM — Rapid conductivity mapping
- Drone LiDAR & Photogrammetry — Terrain models and orthomosaics
Examples
Planning a orphaned & abandoned wells project?
Send a location and the question you need answered. We'll recommend a method and a budget range.