Sky Searchers: The Quiet Rise of Drone Well Hunts

States expand aerial surveys to spot undocumented wells as federal research advances

30 Jul 2025

Drone-based mapping is moving from pilot tests to routine use across older US oil and gas regions as regulators seek to locate long-forgotten wells that do not appear in official records. The shift is gradual, but the technology is becoming a regular part of state-led efforts to identify sites that may leak methane, affect water sources or weaken land.

Thousands of orphan and idle wells drilled decades ago remain undocumented. Federal and state funding for remediation has increased, prompting agencies to combine traditional field inspections with aerial tools such as magnetic sensors, methane detectors and high-resolution imaging. Documented campaigns, however, are concentrated in a few states and remain limited compared with the scale of the national inventory.

Ohio has become a central testing ground. The state’s Department of Natural Resources has used unmanned aerial systems fitted with magnetometers to detect buried steel casing by measuring magnetic anomalies, which are later checked by ground teams. Verdantas, a contractor to the agency, recently mapped about 2,000 acres to narrow search zones before field crews arrived.

Regulators in the state have signalled plans to restart and broaden these activities after a pause. In mid-2025, landowners in several western counties were notified that Civil and Environmental Consultants would conduct new magnetic surveys using unmanned aircraft on authorised properties. The notices indicate that drone flights are becoming recurring tools rather than isolated trials.

At the federal level, the Department of Energy’s Undocumented Orphaned Wells Research Program and the CATALOG consortium are also advancing aerial methods. Research groups are testing ultra-low-altitude magnetic flights and lightweight methane sensors mounted on small drones, with the aim of establishing guidance for state agencies. The goal is to align aerial data with improved mapping so that limited field budgets can focus on the most likely sites.

Researchers emphasise the value of better data integration. Moving from incomplete paper files to geospatial datasets allows regulators to assess where wells may be located, how close they are to homes or infrastructure, and which sites may be leaking. Drone surveys still face obstacles in dense forests, difficult terrain and restricted airspace, and false positives require ground verification. Even so, they are helping reduce the size of search areas and streamline inspections.

Commercial activity remains early-stage. Drone surveys are typically bundled into broader environmental or geophysical contracts, and consolidation among service providers has yet to emerge. For now, progress is defined by incremental testing and regional campaigns.

As more states adopt aerial methods and federal bodies refine standards, drone mapping is becoming a steady complement to historic maps, satellite data and ground-based sensing.