This page is dedicated to providing information on the human health and environmental risks associated with abandoned oil and gas exploration wells.
If you need help assessing a property for potential historical oil and gas wells, we can help. Our staff comprises geoscientists at the bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. levels. Contact Christopher Pare’, P.Geo. if you have any questions.
NOTE: If you identify a leaking well, contact the Spills Action Centre at 1-866-MOE-TIPS (663-8477).
Abandoned oil and gas wells are not typically as easy to find as this. Locating the wells may require a desktop review, a site inspection, a geophysical survey, and a soil vapour survey
News Stories and Blogs: Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells in Ontario, Canada
Abandoned oil well, soil contamination increase cost of project at Lambton works yard in Petrolia (The Independent | September 18, 2025)
Old, inactive oil and gas wells emitting almost 7 times more methane than official estimates (CBC | June 20, 2025)
Ontario Federation of Agriculture – Old Oil and Gas Wells in Ontario (OFA Lunch and Learn Ministry of Natural Resources Recorded Webinar | June 26, 2025)
Dealing with decommissioned oil and gas wells on your farm (Farmtario | July 2, 2025)
Latest Wheatley gas leak prompts evacuations, raises serious questions on ‘ghost wells’ (Daily Commercial News | July 11, 2025)
Another gas leak raises alarm over Ontario’s abandoned wells (ReNew Canada | July 29, 2025)
Abandoned Oil and Gas Exploration Wells: A Hidden Environmental and Human Health Risk (Dragun Blog | August 13, 2025)
It’s estimated around 100 legacy wells in Brant County are missing records — does your property have one? (Penticton Herald | August 27, 2025)
Ontario to launch strategy to identify and plug abandoned oil and gas wells (CBC | June 02, 2023)
Ontario invests in capping old gas wells to prevent another Wheatley disaster (ESE Magazine | June 22, 2023)
In Canada, deserted oil wells are environmental time bombs (Phys Org | July 13, 2023)
Ontario has thousands of abandoned gas wells. Here’s where they are (CBC Audio | September 01, 2021)
Technical Articles: Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells
AI Helps Researchers Dig Through Old Maps to Find Lost Oil and Gas Wells (US Berkeley Labs | December 2024)
A Deep Learning Based Framework to Identify Undocumented Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells from Historical Maps: A Case Study for California and Oklahoma (Environmental Science and Technology | December 2024)
Characterizing multifaceted environmental risks of oil and gas well leakage through soil and well methane and hydrogen sulfide emissions (Science Direct | January 2025)
A review of methane leakage from abandoned oil and gas wells: A case study in Lubbock, Texas, within the Permian Basin (Science Direct | July 2024)
What is an explosion? A case history of an investigation for the insurance industry (Science Direct | November 2000)
Ontario, Canada Provincial Programs/Resources
Ontario Abandoned Works Program (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources)
Locating existing water, gas or oil wells (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness)
Emergency Management Ontario – Oil and Gas (Ontario Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Response)
Interactive Map of Oil, Gas, and Salt Wells in Ontario (Ontario Oil, Gas, and Salt Resources Library)
Image Source and Credit: The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry/Ontario GeoHub https://www.ontario.ca/page/open-government-licence-ontario
According to Ontario GeoHub, this map includes “The locations of wells that have been drilled for oil production, gas or salt resources or for underground storage of hydrocarbons.”
Contact Dragun Corporation for Matters Regarding Abandoned Gas and Oil Wells
Contact our team to get more information and assistance about how to approach environmental issues in Canada that involve both abandoned oil wells and gas wells.