The worst oil bust since the 1980s is leaving Texas and other states with newly abandoned drilling sites at a time when they have little money to plug wells.
At least 60 oil producers have declared bankruptcy since 2014 as U.S. rig counts plunge to historic lows. Even with oil prices slowly creeping upward in recent weeks, energy-producing states are confronting both holes in their budgets and potentially leaking ones in the ground.
In Texas alone, the roughly $165 million needed to plug nearly 10,000 abandoned wells is double the budget of the agency that regulates the industry.
Texas regulators now want taxpayers to cover more of the clean-up. Wyoming and Louisiana have raised fees, and Oklahoma has reshuffled money in the face of a $1.1 billion state budget shortfall.
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