States › Illinois

Cost to plug an oil or gas well in Illinois

Reported costs of publicly funded well plugging in Illinois, 2022 to 2026.

Median cost per well

$36,649

A held-out error 17%

Typical range

$8,148 – $49,088

10th to 90th percentile; held 81% of held-out wells

Wells on file

783

730 independent observations, 2022-10 to 2026-06

Estimate a well in Illinois

By well type

Light bar: 10th to 90th percentile. Dark bar: middle half. Tick: median. Only graded well types are drawn.

Well type	Median per well	Typical range (10th–90th pct.)	Grade	Wells	Held-out error
Gas well	—	—	Insufficient data	59	—
Injection or disposal well	$36,501	$21,651 – $47,794	B	152	18%
Oil well	$37,544	$7,184 – $49,590	A	551	18%
Other or unknown	—	—	Insufficient data	21	—

By depth

Insufficient data No depth data with terms that allow commercial use is available for wells in Illinois, 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
2022	$38,917	$33,199 – $43,556	B	60	6%
2023	$37,345	$6,129 – $47,846	A	290	19%
2024	$35,596	$6,230 – $54,075	B	154	34%
2025	$34,433	$14,459 – $49,644	B	102	18%
2026	$35,913	$13,384 – $46,742	B	177	16%

Cost index for Illinois

Year	Index (2023 = 100 where 2023 is on file, otherwise first year)	Grade	Wells
2022	113.1	B	60
2023	100.0	B	290
2024	—	Insufficient data	154
2025	—	Insufficient data	102
2026	—	Insufficient data	177

Counties with a graded estimate

County	Median per well	Typical range (10th–90th pct.)	Grade	Wells	Held-out error
Lawrence	$35,718	$24,383 – $53,803	B	76	19%
White	$42,440	$31,000 – $50,770	B	76	10%

Contractors active

Insufficient data The cost records carry no contractor names, and no contractor list with terms that allow commercial use is available for this state.

Receipts

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

Well-level records for Illinois 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. 92% of the records here are a cost for one well; the rest are contract or lease averages. 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.