1.   And for operators facing the prospect of plugging and abandoning old wells and removing platforms, selling old equipment helps defray some of the costs.

2.   A report prepared by energy industry representatives and large landowners urges the state to crack down on oil and gas producers who abandon wells without properly plugging them.

3.   Lasmo started drilling there last year then abandoned a well after mechanical problems and the beginning of monsoon season.

4.   The group is also proposing a bill to block oil and natural-gas companies from abandoning wells.

5.   The report says lax oversight has let too many companies abandon wells without properly plugging them, threatening aquifers and leaving the state to deal with the orphaned wells.

6.   With the oil industry in Texas long past its glory days, producers from the Panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico are folding and abandoning wells in growing numbers.