ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF OKLAHOMA ABANDONED DRILLING AND PRODUCTION SITES AND ASSOCIATED PUBLIC EDUCATION/OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

The U.S. Department of Energy has participated with the Oklahoma Energy Resource Board (OERB) since 1995 by providing grant funding for on-going work in both environmental assessment of abandoned oilfield exploration and production sites and associated public education/outreach activities. The OERB, a state agency created in 1993 by the Oklahoma legislature, administers programs funded by an assessment of one tenth of one percent on all oil and natural gas produced and sold in the state of Oklahoma. Approximately one half of the funds are used to assess and remediate abandoned oilfield sites and the other half are being used to educate about the importance of the oil and natural gas industry and OERB's environmental efforts. Financial participation through grant funding by the U.S. D.O.E. has been $200,000 annually which represents approximately 3 percent of OERB's private funding. Most of OERB's revenues come from an assessment of 1/10th of 1% on the sale of crude and natural gas in Oklahoma. The assessment is considered voluntary in that any interest owner may ask for a refund annually of their contributions to the fund. On average, 95% of the assessment dollars have remained with OERB, which shows tremendous support by the industry. This Final Report summarizes the progress of the three year grant. The purpose of this three-year project was to continue the progress of the OERB to accomplish its environmental and educational objectives and transfer information learned to other organizations and producing states in the industry.