Norwegian technology employs ‘artificial magma’ to stifle Alberta gas well leaks
CALGARY — New technologies employing brute force as well as artificial volcanic action are being developed to better seal thousands of inactive oil and gas wells in Canada that are leaking methane, a greenhouse gas with an outsized impact on global warming.
The technology is advancing as federal and provincial governments embrace new goals to cut fugitive methane gas emissions that the industry concedes are difficult to measure, much less control.
A Norwegian company is working in B.C. and Alberta with a technology that creates a pool of volcano-inspired “artificial magma” underground to plug wells by melting and fusing the steel pipe with surrounding rock.
Michael Skjold said he came up with the idea to use thermite — a metal-chemical powder that burns at around 3,000 C — to seal oil and gas wells about eight years ago. It has advanced from backyard testing to a full-scale commercial test program to plug oil and gas wells.