Abandoned oil and gas wells are emerging as a geothermal policy opportunity

From fossil legacy to geothermal experiment

States across the US are beginning to examine an unusual clean-energy opportunity: converting old oil and gas wells into geothermal assets. As reported by Wired, policymakers are looking at whether abandoned and inactive wells, long treated as environmental liabilities, could instead be used to produce geothermal energy or support underground energy storage.

The concept is attractive for a simple reason. Millions of oil and gas wells already exist, and many are now inactive. A large number have no official owner, while some continue to pollute groundwater and leak methane. Those wells represent both a cleanup burden and a sunk infrastructure cost. If even a fraction can be repurposed, states could reduce liabilities while unlocking new low-carbon energy options.

Why states are paying attention

According to the source text, regions with deep oil and gas histories already hold rich subsurface data, which geothermal developers need in order to judge where projects may work. That existing knowledge base, combined with already drilled holes, gives repurposing advocates a practical argument: some of the hardest and most expensive early steps in energy development may already be partly in place.

The idea remains largely untested, and the article is careful on that point. Scientists and startups are still working to prove what can be done, and policymakers are mainly laying groundwork through studies and regulatory changes. That makes this less a story about a solved energy technology than one about states trying to create conditions for experimentation.

Oklahoma, New Mexico, Alabama, and North Dakota move first

Wired points to a cluster of state-level actions. In Oklahoma, the state Senate is considering a bill that would create a process for companies to buy abandoned oil and gas wells and repurpose them for geothermal energy or underground energy storage. Oklahoma has identified more than 20,000 such wells, and regulators estimate it could take 235 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to plug them all.

The financial burden is substantial. The article says fixing a single old well can cost roughly $75,000 to $150,000 or more, depending on location and cleanup complexity. In that context, repurposing is not just an energy idea but a fiscal one. If old wells can gain economic value, policymakers may have a stronger path to addressing a problem that has otherwise lingered for decades.

New Mexico adopted a similar law last year for its 2,000-plus orphan wells, while Alabama passed legislation last month allowing the state to approve and regulate conversions of oil and gas wells for alternative energy resources such as geothermal. North Dakota also adopted a bill last year requiring a legislative study of repurposing potential. The pattern suggests bipartisan interest built less on ideology than on cleanup economics and energy reliability.

Repurposing is still a bet, not a guarantee

That interest does not mean widespread deployment is imminent. The source describes the concept as relatively new, and that caution is important. Old wells differ in condition, geology, and commercial viability. A well that exists on paper may not make sense as a geothermal asset in practice. The gap between regulatory openness and scalable project economics could still prove wide.

Still, the policy logic is gaining force. States need reliable clean energy, orphan wells remain expensive and polluting, and geothermal developers need sites and data. Repurposing sits at the intersection of all three. Even if only a subset of inactive wells can be converted successfully, the approach could change how states think about legacy fossil infrastructure.

That is why this story matters now. It captures a broader transition in energy policy, where cleanup, grid needs, and industrial reuse are no longer separate conversations. Inactive wells may never become a dominant energy resource, but they are increasingly being viewed as more than just holes to seal and forget.

This article is based on reporting by Wired. Read the original article.