States › Nebraska

Cost to plug an oil or gas well in Nebraska

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

Median cost per well

$38,916

A held-out error 24%

Typical range

$17,628 – $59,145

10th to 90th percentile; held 82% of held-out wells

Wells on file

403

403 independent observations, 2022-10 to 2025-08

Estimate a well in Nebraska

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	$32,581	$16,182 – $47,870	B	226	33%
Injection or disposal well	—	—	Insufficient data	26	—
Oil well	$46,003	$32,039 – $87,178	B	86	35%
Other or unknown	$43,308	$33,384 – $60,655	B	65	15%

By depth

Insufficient data No depth data with terms that allow commercial use is available for wells in Nebraska, 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	—	—	Insufficient data	27	—
2023	$27,091	$15,341 – $53,320	B	209	40%
2024	$43,244	$34,269 – $53,715	B	111	9%
2025	—	—	Insufficient data	56	—

Cost index for Nebraska

Year	Index (2023 = 100 where 2023 is on file, otherwise first year)	Grade	Wells
2022	—	Insufficient data	27
2023	100.0	A	209
2024	104.0	B	111
2025	—	Insufficient data	56

Counties with a graded estimate

County	Median per well	Typical range (10th–90th pct.)	Grade	Wells	Held-out error
Chase	$18,514	$14,581 – $26,163	B	83	17%
Cheyenne	$45,599	$32,045 – $76,093	B	65	22%
Deuel	$41,779	$33,392 – $51,959	B	158	12%

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 Nebraska 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. 100% 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.