Oil and gas company KP Kauffman, under fire for a spate of alleged operating violations, is facing a proposed $3.7 million fine and the possible loss of its right to operate in the state as a three-day hearing on its case opens before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Tuesday. The enforcement action […]
COGCC
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado doesn’t want to foot the bill for abandoned oil and gas wells. Here’s how it will avoid picking up the tab.
Colorado oil and gas regulators looking to avoid a rash of abandoned and unplugged oil and gas wells are proposing to increase financial guarantees by operators for each of their wells — a price tag that could add up to billions of dollars. The draft financial assurance regulations, released by the Colorado Oil and Gas […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
87 Front Range oil and gas wells ordered to shut down after operator KP Kauffman fails to clean up spills
KP Kauffman, an independent oil and gas operator on the Front Range, has been ordered to shut 87 of its wells and clean up 29 sites after a litany of violations, ranging from fouling farm fields to covering the road in front of a high school with oily waste. The wells, located in Adams and […]
Posted inClimate, Energy, News, Politics and Government
“Snake Oil Inc.”: Colorado energy agency apologizes after email mocks drilling companies
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has apologized after employees inadvertently sent an email that ridiculed some companies the state agency regulates. The email was sent Sunday as the agency was testing a new e-filing system. It was sent to hundreds of oil and gas workers across the state, KCNC-TV reported Thursday. The message referred to […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado releases its plan to slash greenhouse gases, leaving some environmental groups wanting more
The road to curbing Colorado’s greenhouse gases runs through heavy cuts to emissions from power plants and oil and gas operations, but also winds across ambitious reductions in pollution from cars, buildings and cows, according to a state plan released Wednesday. The Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, released by Gov. Jared Polis’ administration after […]
Posted inEnergy, News, Politics and Government
Colorado draws 2,000-foot statewide oil and gas drilling setback. But it comes with a big “however.”
Colorado is poised to impose the biggest statewide oil and gas drilling setback in the nation – 2,000 feet from homes and schools – after state regulators unanimously backed the measure in an informal vote Thursday. A final, formal vote will be held Nov. 6. But while setting the buffer for even a single home, […]
Posted inEnergy, News
Colorado regulators’ plans to require 2,000-foot buffer around drilling rekindles oil and gas wars
The Colorado oil and gas wars are back – if they ever left – sparked by state regulators’ plans unveiled Friday for a 2,000-foot buffer between drill sites and homes and schools. The regulation amounts to a ban on oil and gas development and a lawsuit might be in the offing, industry officials said. “It […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, News, Politics and Government
Colorado regulators back 2,000-foot setback for new oil and gas drilling in “paradigm shift”
All homes and schools in Colorado should be protected from new oil and gas drilling by a 2,000-foot buffer or setback – four times the current standard for urban areas, a majority of the members of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said. In a session Wednesday to review proposed rule changes on setbacks, […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government
Fight over Colorado setback rule sets up make-or-break hearing on how close is too close for oil and gas
Colorado regulators have spent more than a year overhauling the state’s oil and gas drilling rules, but on Tuesday they face revising what both industry and environmentalists see as the make-or-break rule: setbacks of oil and gas operations from homes and schools. “Setbacks will determine Gov. Jared Polis’ legacy on oil and gas and whether […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Democratic lawmakers, officials from oil and gas- dependent areas of Colorado clash on first day of rulemaking
The legislators who wrote a law overhauling the state’s oil and gas rules clashed with Western Slope local officials who will have to deal with the changes at a Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation hearing Monday. The hearing, held on Zoom, was the first day of a six-week review of proposed rules to reorient the […]