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Cost to plug an oil or gas well in California

Reported costs of publicly funded well plugging in California, 2023 to 2026.

Insufficient data

There is no graded statewide estimate for California. 331 wells are on file, giving 283 independent cost observations, and the held-out error of a statewide median was 45%. Estimates for a well type or county are shown below where they pass.

If you hold actual plugging costs for this state, report a plugging cost.

Estimate a well in California

By well type

Well type	Median per well	Typical range (10th–90th pct.)	Grade	Wells	Held-out error
Injection or disposal well	—	—	Insufficient data	54	—
Oil well	—	—	Insufficient data	265	—
Other or unknown	—	—	Insufficient data	12	—

By depth

Insufficient data No depth data with terms that allow commercial use is available for wells in California, so costs by depth band and per foot are not published.

By year plugged

Wells with a reported plugging cost, by year plugged.

Year	Median per well	Typical range (10th–90th pct.)	Grade	Wells	Held-out error
2023	$143,815	$114,234 – $251,731	B	142	18%
2024	—	—	Insufficient data	30	—
2025	—	—	Insufficient data	73	—
2026	—	—	Insufficient data	86	—

Cost index for California

Year	Index (2023 = 100 where 2023 is on file, otherwise first year)	Grade	Wells
2023	—	Insufficient data	142
2024	—	Insufficient data	30
2025	—	Insufficient data	73
2026	—	Insufficient data	86

Counties with a graded estimate

County	Median per well	Typical range (10th–90th pct.)	Grade	Wells	Held-out error
Santa Barbara	$145,554	$117,113 – $296,919	B	173	23%

Contractors active

Companies awarded federal contracts for well plugging in this state, from USAspending (federal-land wells only): E2 Contracting, Inc., Olgoonik Construction Services LLC.

Receipts

Every figure on this page is computed from public records you can inspect:

Well-level records for California in the US Department of the Interior Orphaned Wells Program Office data layer (well identifier, county, type, reported cost, date).
Orphaned Wells Program maps and data, US Department of the Interior.

Costs are as reported by the grant recipient. See limitations.

Data through 2026-06-30. Sample sizes are the wells behind each figure. Grades come from held-out tests, not in-sample fit: A needs 200+ independent cost observations and a held-out error of 25% or less; B needs 60+ and 40% or less. Anything weaker is shown as Insufficient data. How grading works.

Some figures here are withheld because the data is too thin to grade. If you hold actual plugging costs, report a plugging cost. Reports are reviewed before any use.