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Cost to plug an oil or gas well in Montana

Reported costs of publicly funded well plugging in Montana, 2022 to 2025.

Insufficient data

There is no graded statewide estimate for Montana. 235 wells are on file, giving 186 independent cost observations, and the held-out error of a statewide median was 91%. 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 Montana

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	$10,382	$7,862 – $27,546	B	136	35%
Injection or disposal well	—	—	Insufficient data	7	—
Oil well	—	—	Insufficient data	76	—
Other or unknown	—	—	Insufficient data	16	—

By depth

Depth band	Median per well	Typical range (10th–90th pct.)	Grade	Wells	Held-out error
1,000-2,999 ft	—	—	Insufficient data	129	—
3,000-5,999 ft	—	—	Insufficient data	46	—
6,000 ft and deeper	—	—	Insufficient data	33	—
under 1,000 ft	—	—	Insufficient data	18	—

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	—	—	Insufficient data	135	—
2024	—	—	Insufficient data	38	—
2025	—	—	Insufficient data	61	—

Cost index for Montana

Year	Index (2023 = 100 where 2023 is on file, otherwise first year)	Grade	Wells
2022	—	Insufficient data	1
2023	100.0	B	135
2024	—	Insufficient data	38
2025	—	Insufficient data	61

Contractors active

Companies awarded federal contracts for well plugging in this state, from USAspending (federal-land wells only): Foothills Rig Service Inc, Liquid Gold Well Service, Inc..

Receipts

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

Well-level records for Montana 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.