Radicle and Well Done Foundation Partner to Plug 30 Orphaned Oil Wells in Montana this Year, Setting the Stage to Expand the WDF Initiative Throughout North America
Radicle to Fund WDF's Campaign through Sale of Carbon Offsets, Creating a Scalable Template
CALGARY, AB, Feb. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Today, Radicle Group Inc. (Radicle) and Well Done Foundation Inc. (WDF) signed an agreement that helps finance and complete the plugging of 30 orphaned oil wells in Northern Montana, while creating a template to expand the WDF model to a much larger scale, according to WDF founder and Chairman Curtis Shuck.
Radicle will underpin the plugging of the wells and the restoration of land surrounding them in advance through the sale of carbon offsets; the scale of the project will provide a template to expand WDF's mission throughout North America. As part of the agreement, Radicle will have the exclusive rights to market and sell carbon credits that fund the WDF's projects.
"This strategic partnership will provide the Well Done Foundation with the game-changing resources to scale up more quickly," Shuck said. "We are currently expanding our operations to Kansas, Texas, Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia. What may have been seen as a drop in the bucket initially is proving to be making a real difference, one well at a time, because every little bit counts in the bigger picture and actions deliver results."
Both organizations recognize the significant environmental benefits of completing this work: there are currently 3.2 million nonproducing oil and gas wells in the US alone, all open and emitting thousands of metric tonnes of carbon and methane each year. To put it in perspective, each open well can emit as much carbon annually as 1,500 cars.
"At Radicle, we are motivated to leave the planet better than we found it, and this is why we partnered with Well Done Foundation," Radicle President Alastair Handley said. "This partnership is solving a critical environmental threat at scale in an entrepreneurial way. By leveraging the value of carbon credits, we support the Well Done Foundation to succeed in its cause. This financing of 'plugging plans' and orphan well adoption is a key innovative step in our journey together."
The "Well Done Process" is a multi-step initiative built upon public and private partnerships: the Well Done Foundation identifies a high-emitting orphaned and abandoned oil or gas well and qualifies it through a rigorous measurement and monitoring regiment, bonds it with the regulatory body, and then launches a campaign to raise funds to plug the well and restore the impacted surface areas. Working closely with the surface landowners, WDF develops a "plugging plan" and obtains a permit from the state for the project.
Next, it identifies and designates an "adoptive family" for the orphaned and abandoned well (either a corporate or individual benefactor), selects a team for the downhole and surface work, and executes the project to successful completion.
Radicle specializes in supporting organizations like WDF, and over 3,000 others, to monetize their environmental efforts. In this project, Radicle has been supporting WDF in the development of a carbon offset methodology through the American Carbon Registry (ACR)'s program to create a pathway to monetization for the reduction in emissions.
To purchase carbon offsets through the WDF/Radicle partnership, visit: https://welldonefoundation.com/purchase-carbon-offsets/. To discover more about leveraging Radicle's sustainable finance for eligible projects, email [email protected] and visit radiclebalance.com.
About Radicle
Radicle helps guide today's progressive companies towards tomorrow's sustainable future. From our early beginnings in Calgary, Canada, when we developed one of the world's first software platforms to measure, qualify, and aggregate greenhouse gas emissions, we've now taken root internationally to leverage data, insights, and technology to safeguard our shared tomorrow. Radicle works with agriculture, energy, manufacturing, commercial, and financial services to enable planet-positive solutions by increasing efficiency while lowering costs and emissions. We believe that financial and environmental sustainability are two sides of the same coin: balance between the two is possible. Visit radiclebalance.com to learn more.
About the Well Done Foundation
Formed in 2019, the Well Done Foundation enables the oil and gas industry to partner with the conservation community to create an alternative pathway to success that benefits all. The Well Done Process creates a strategic partnership among regulators, surface owners and adoptive parties, leading to a safe and seamless system that provides cost-effective and lasting results that improve the environment while working with the industry in a transparent structure that delivers value to its triple bottom line: community partnerships (people), environmental responsibility (planet), and economic benefits (vitality). Montana's Golden Triangle Region is home to some of the richest soil and most productive growing acres in the United States. WDF works with its partners to transition the orphaned well sites into their next levels of service. For more information, visit https://welldonefoundation.com/.
SOURCE Radicle Group Inc.
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