EDF argues that voluntary carbon markets could speed up plugging of orphaned and marginal oil and gas wells, but only if the rules are tight. The scale is huge: around 2.3 million unplugged abandoned wells in the US, plus 700,000 low-producing wells that account for about half of well-site methane emissions. The piece walks through why crediting is risky. Some registries have already paused orphan well credits to review methodology, while others keep issuing. EDF and UT Austin just published primers that apply the Integrity Council's Core Carbon Principles to well plugging and flag the open questions around baselines, additionality, and leakage. Anyone tracking methane policy or VCM integrity will find the practical detail useful. The post also points to a live webinar for deeper discussion.
