Up First from NPR

Episode: When the Oil Runs Dry

Release Date: September 7, 2025
Host: Ayesha Rascoe
Guest Reporter: Camila Domonosky

Overview

This episode of NPR's "The Sunday Story" takes a deep dive into the hidden, lingering consequences of the U.S. oil industry’s century-and-a-half boom. Host Ayesha Rascoe speaks with NPR correspondent Camila Domonosky, who unpacks the life cycle of oil wells—from gushing infancy to slow, polluting death—and investigates the scale, costs, and environmental perils of millions of old, marginal, and “orphan” wells across the country. The episode explores why these holes linger, why so few get plugged, and what happens when the oil—and responsibility—runs dry.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction to America's Oil Well Legacy

• [00:00 – 01:26]

  • The U.S. has drilled millions of oil wells over 150+ years—wells that don’t simply vanish after their productive days end.
  • Camila Domonosky’s entry point: The vast majority of oil wells now make very little oil, contrary to public perception.

  “The vast majority of US oil wells make very little oil.”
  — Camila Domonosky [01:06]

  • Modern U.S. oil production is dominated by a minority of "super wells," while most wells “dribble along” with tiny output.

2. The Oil Well Life Cycle and Risks of Abandonment

• [01:47 – 03:48]

  • Oil wells, after initial productivity, become harder to extract from—eventually requiring plugging with cement to prevent dangerous leaks (toxic chemicals, methane).
  • Methane is particularly potent: “more than 28 times as powerful…than carbon dioxide” as a greenhouse gas [02:18].

  “At first, it’s like opening a bottle of soda. It wants to explode out, but then, over time...it gets harder and harder as you go.”
  — Camila Domonosky [02:08]

  • Many old wells are not properly closed, continuing to "dribble" oil and, more troublingly, leak pollutants.

3. America’s Struggle to Shut Down Old Wells

• [03:48 – 06:03]
  • The oil industry is better at creating new wells than shutting old ones down.
  • Government policies and tax incentives encourage keeping low-output ("marginal" or "stripper") wells running to squeeze remaining resources, not to decommission.
  • Example from Oklahoma: Many wells barely produce, but “even a little bit of oil is a lot of money.” [10:47]

4. On the Ground in Oklahoma: The World of Marginal Wells

• [06:03 – 12:12]

  • Reporter joins petroleum engineer Dan Arthur and oil field owner Scott Rabinowitz in Tulsa.

  • Field visit reveals:

    • Some wells still pump a tiny amount (e.g., 3 barrels a day), generating thousands monthly if oil prices are favorable, justifying their continued operation.
    • Marginal wells (“stripper wells”): 77% of U.S. wells, but provide only 6% of oil—and up to half the methane pollution from oil production.

    “So the wells that are making up just 6% of American oil are making half of the methane pollution.”
    — Ayesha Rascoe [09:16]

  • Costs for plugging: Minimum of $12,000 per well, sometimes hundreds of thousands—strong disincentive for operators to shut them down.

  “Plugging a well is just really expensive.”
  — Camila Domonosky [12:35]

5. The Plague of Orphan Wells

• [12:50 – 19:13]

  • Orphan wells: Abandoned with no responsible owner, often polluting communities and landscapes.
  • Many orphans stem from bankruptcies, flipping ownership, or simply ancient, untracked production.
  • Field trip: Orphan wells are often little more than “a janky looking pipe sticking out of the ground less than waist high.” [15:16]
  • There could be 1.5 million orphan wells nationwide—many unmapped or unaccounted for.

  “You got to go get your ass out and find them.”
  — Carter Arthur [16:52]

6. The Challenge of Liability and Regulation

• [19:13 – 21:15]

  • Companies are supposed to put up bonds (like insurance) for plugging, but the required amounts are far below the real costs.
  • If a well is orphaned, public programs must step in—slow and expensive.

  “The problem is that the amount that’s put up through those bonds is just a fraction of what it actually costs to plug a well.”
  — Camila Domonosky [20:06]

7. Plugging Wells: A Costly, Daunting Task

• [21:19 – 25:56]

  • Reporter visits Maria Burns in Ohio, whose front yard harbors a leaking, twice-plugged natural gas well.
  • The state’s “Orphan Well Program” is overloaded; e.g., 353 wells plugged in a year, despite tens of thousands needing intervention.
  • Plugging is costly, dangerous, and not always permanent. Sometimes early plugs (even cement ones) fail after decades.

  “You plug it in, the plug don’t last.”
  — Ayesha Rascoe [23:08]

8. The Larger Environmental and Policy Challenge

• [25:58 – 28:41]

  • Even improved technology can't guarantee plugs will hold for centuries.
  • The economic incentive is to drill for profits now, not spend money sealing up the past’s messes—leaving massive problems for future generations.

  “You can make money drilling a well, but it costs money to plug it.”
  — Camila Domonosky [26:17]

  • There are initiatives: federal and state funding, drone surveys, carbon-market solutions, NGOs tracking and advocating—but the scale of the problem is staggering.

9. The Broader Lesson: Lingering Costs of Traditional Energy

• [27:19 – 28:41]

  • The aftereffects of traditional energy—oil, coal, nuclear—remain long after production ends. Even wind and solar have end-of-life considerations.

  “Even when we’re done with the resource, there’s still this lingering cost of using the resource.”
  — Ayesha Rascoe [27:19]

  • The core dilemma: American energy economics rewards extraction, but not clean closure; environmental costs outlast profit timelines.

Memorable Quotes (with Attributions & Timestamps)

• “The vast majority of US oil wells make very little oil.”
  — Camila Domonosky, [01:06]

• “So the wells that are making up just 6% of American oil are making half of the methane pollution.”
  — Ayesha Rascoe, [09:16]

• “Plugging a well is just really expensive.”
  — Camila Domonosky, [12:35]

• “You got to go get your ass out and find them.”
  — Carter Arthur, [16:52]

• “The problem is that the amount that’s put up through those bonds is just a fraction of what it actually costs to plug a well.”
  — Camila Domonosky, [20:06]

• “You plug it in, the plug don’t last.”
  — Ayesha Rascoe, [23:08]

• “You can make money drilling a well, but it costs money to plug it.”
  — Camila Domonosky, [26:17]

• “Even when we’re done with the resource, there’s still this lingering cost of using the resource.”
  — Ayesha Rascoe, [27:19]

Detailed Timeline of Important Segments

• [00:00] — Introduction to the episode; history of US oil wells.
• [01:06] — The surprising reality: most wells produce little oil.
• [02:08] — Explanation of the oil well life cycle and pressing environmental concerns.
• [06:03–12:12] — Field reporting from Oklahoma; economics of marginal wells.
• [14:44–19:13] — Discovery and explanation of orphan wells; field detection stories.
• [21:19–25:56] — Visiting Ohio site; challenges and failures of plugging wells.
• [27:19–28:41] — Reflection: broader, lasting impacts of the fossil fuel industry.

Tone & Style

• Engaged, explanatory, and personal.
• The hosts and guests blend technical insight with vivid on-the-ground storytelling and occasional wry humor.

Conclusion

The episode reveals how America’s oil boom leaves an enduring, often invisible environmental debt. Wells continue to leak and pollute long after their usefulness has ended, and the economic structure of the industry—profit today, cost tomorrow—means the nation is left with a sprawling, expensive mess.

Efforts are underway to map, monitor, and plug these ticking time bombs, but the task is massive. The discussion prompts listeners to reconsider not just oil, but the full life cycles and hidden costs of all our energy choices.

Episode Recommendation:
For listeners seeking to understand both the visible and hidden legacies of America’s relentless pursuit of oil, and the urgent need to reckon with the costs—environmental, financial, and moral—left behind.