Abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells are prominent in West Virginia, but the governor is making moves to prevent them in the future. According to a study done in 2024 by West Virginia University, there are over 6,500 orphaned oil and gas wells in West Virginia. On Thursday, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced the Mountain State Plugging Fund, a plan that will help the process of retiring oil and gas wells before they get to the point of being orphaned. The fund, started in conjunction with Diversified Energy, is starting with $70 million and aims to close at least 1,500 wells over the next 20 years.