UNSPSC 71121705: Oilfield pipe recovery service

Services to bypass or drill a section parallel to the original well.

UNSPSC 71121705 Oilfield pipe recovery service, a Commodity code, encompasses the plugging, abandonment, and site restoration of orphaned and decommissioned oil and gas wells, together with the removal and recovery of associated well infrastructure, casing, tubing, and environmental remediation across active oil and gas fields. State and local governments—primarily state environmental and energy departments, oil and gas regulatory boards, and regional resource management authorities—procure these services under federal and state orphan-well remediation programs funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and similar environmental initiatives. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has posted multiple recent opportunities for orphan well plugging across Gratiot and Montcalm counties (solicitations DS 260000000032 through DS 260000000035, all with response dates of July 21, 2026), requiring unit-price bidding on 68 line-item matrices covering rig services, casing rental, cementing, wireline operations, waste disposal, and site restoration, with Davis-Bacon prevailing wage compliance and mandatory pre-proposal meetings. These solicitations restrict bidding to vendors previously awarded contracts through five specified prior RFP prequalifications and evaluate proposals on technical merit (key personnel, equipment adequacy, experience, and responsiveness) rather than lowest price.

The code shows concentrated recent activity in Michigan and Mississippi, with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy managing the largest visible portfolio of active solicitations covering plugging of 3 to 14 wells per project across multiple sections of the New Haven gas storage field. Mississippi's Oil and Gas Board has also posted multiple IFBs for orphan well plugging across several counties (Adams, Clarke, Hinds, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Yazoo, Issaquena, and Madison) under Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding, with response deadlines in March and April 2026. Texas, through the Railroad Commission and General Land Office, has posted requests for qualifications and quotations for statewide and high-H2S well plugging services with Historically Underutilized Business set-asides available. Geographic spread is concentrated in traditional oil and gas producing regions—the upper Midwest (Michigan), the Gulf Coast and Mid-South (Mississippi, Texas), and select western states—reflecting the location of legacy oilfield infrastructure and federal orphan-well remediation programs. Qualification and prequalification requirements are stringent across all recent opportunities: bidders must demonstrate five or more years of specialized well plugging experience, carry substantial pollution liability and general liability insurance, comply with Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates (ranging from approximately $39 to $44 per hour plus fringe), and often must have been pre-awarded through earlier multi-year framework RFPs before submitting bids on individual projects. Cost estimates and contract values are not disclosed in the solicitations reviewed, suggesting that awards are made on unit-rate and line-item bases reflecting the specific scope and complexity of each well site.