Methane Emissions Reduction Program

Methane Emissions Reduction Grant

The federal Department of Energy awarded the Commission a nearly $22 million grant in December 2023 to mitigate methane emissions from certain oil and gas wells as part of the Methane Emissions Reduction Program. This program focuses on the abandonment of marginal conventional wells, which are idle or producing onshore vertical or slightly deviated wells with a known owner or operator that produce less than or equal to 15 barrels of oil a day. Marginal conventional wells account for only six percent of oil and gas production in the U.S. but over half of well site methane emissions.

The grant requires the Commission to use a minimum of 40 percent of the funding in low-income and disadvantaged communities in compliance with the federal government’s Justice 40 initiative. Staff selected the West Wilmington oil field in Los Angeles County as the primary location to implement the program because of its proximity to disadvantaged communities and the presence of marginal conventional wells.

Commission staff are reviewing methane emission data for wells at the West Wilmington field to plug and abandon leaking wells with the grant funding. In June 2025, staff participated in the California Resource Corporation’s quarterly leakage survey of 45 wells and provided this data to the Department of Energy. In August 2025, staff received authorization to plug and abandon the first five wells in the West Wilmington field. Staff are coordinating with the California Resources Corporation, the city of Long Beach, and CalGEM to plug and abandon these wells by the end of 2025. Staff continue to meet monthly with the federal grant project manager, the Department of Energy, to provide status updates. Staff have also met with the Department of Conservation about using a portion of the funding to plug wells elsewhere.

Well Map

Map of West Wilmington with Idle and Active Marginal Conventional Wells