[gruez]

>[...] and the amount that the small oil wells produce is too low to justify the cost.

>If it were for me I'd force oil well operators to [....]

Maybe it's too costly for a reason? Building power lines or pipelines to the middle of nowhere has economic and environmental costs as well, so top down legislation forcing every single well to do it might result in worse overall outcomes. For instance, the resources it takes to construct a pipeline/power line to the nearest town might be more than the electricity/methane that can be generated from the well.

[mschuster91]

> For instance, the resources it takes to construct a pipeline/power line to the nearest town might be more than the electricity/methane that can be generated from the well.

Well, there already is a pipeline for the oil product (so the additional overhead for a small gas pipe isn't that huge) and an electric grid hookup for the pump. That can be used even for a small-scale electrical generator.

[gruez]

>Well, there already is a pipeline for the oil product

not every oil well is hooked up to a pipeline. Some (many? most? not sure) are only serviced by trucks, presumably because they're too remote to profitably operate a pipeline for.