Is U.S. Shale Circling The Drain?

‘Significant production slowdown’ is all around the headlines about the U.S. shale patch these days. Yet, the headlines have often missed one growing problem in the U.S. oil industry—the abandoned, or ‘orphaned’ wells that bankrupt oil and gas operators leave behind on private, state, and federal land. With companies gone bust, it’s the state or the federal government that must pick up the tab for plugging those abandoned wells, cleaning up the sites, and restore lands to as close to their original natural states…