FACT: If a fracking company goes bust the landowner is left with the substantial costs of decommissioning and cleaning up the site. This was confirmed by the National Audit Office in 2019[i].
Plugged wells will remain in the ground in perpetuity and if they leak or become damaged at any time in the future, or if the company no longer exists, or cannot be traced or has insufficient funding, the landowner is legally responsible for clean-up costs. Many companies are structured to limit their exposure to such liability and many cease to operate after a number of years. Where there has been considerable onshore oil and gas drilling in North America this has become a significant problem[ii].
[i] Fracking for shale gas in England (https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Fracking-for-shale-gas-in-England.pdf)
[ii] Collapsed Alberta energy company leaves behind 401 ‘orphan’ wells in B.C., more than doubling total (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/orphan-wells-ranch-energy-bc-oil-gas-1.5618200)