Nation

The Interior Department, mindful of sharply declining oil prices, will suspend production requirements of low-producing “stripper” wells and allow leaseholders to shut them down without jeopardizing their leases, Secretary Donald P. Hodel announced. The new policy gives leaseholders an opportunity to “shut in” a low-producing well rather than permanently plugging it. The drop in oil prices is causing producers to abandon stripper wells that could become uneconomical to maintain. Stripper wells, which produce 10 barrels of oil or less daily, supply 20 million to 25 million barrels nationwide annually, or about 15% of federal onshore oil production.