In Slumping Energy States, Plugging Abandoned Wells Could Provide an Economic Boost
(World News Russia)

Read Stateline coverage of the latest state action on coronavirus. WATFORD CITY, N.D. - It`s rare for Tom Brooks to say no to work. Which is why, in the middle of a pandemic and a worldwide slump in oil prices, Brooks mustered up a crew to plug a 42-year-old oil well for the state of North Dakota. `We fought our way through the slow times and didn`t shut the doors,` Brooks said one afternoon this summer as he drove his pickup toward the well in question, tucked amid tan buttes in the scenic grasslands near the Montana state line. `We didn`t plan it that way. We were just too stupid to quit.` Now, what`s helping keep Brooks and other oilfield service companies in business - just barely - is...