Regulators reacted to the appeal of 6 environmental groups that say data for individual drilling projects isn’t helping solve Colorado’s regional pollution problems
Jeff Robbins
Posted inBusiness
Oil and gas drilling plan OK’d for 55 square miles in Aurora, including area where 12,500 homes are planned
State regulators confirmed Crestone Peak’s Box Elder drilling plan for 55 square miles of land the energy company has been working on since 2020, saying Colorado’s new permitting process is “workable, protective”
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado oil and gas companies said a 2019 state law would destroy them. That didn’t happen. But here’s what did.
The demise of the oil and gas industry in Colorado — predicted after the passage of legislation and regulations focused on protecting public health, safety and the environment — does not appear to be imminent. Plans for nearly 1,900 new oil and gas wells are before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2022 […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News
Colorado gives oil and gas company 6 more months to clean up its act. If not, KP Kauffman faces nearly $1 million in fines — or worse.
Frustrated, but patient, state oil and gas regulators on Monday gave the troubled KP Kauffman Co. one more, six-month chance to clean up its act or face close to $1 million in fines — or worse. The Denver-based oil and gas operator, which runs 1,200 low-producing wells around the state, is under an agreement to […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, News, Politics and Government
Kerr-McGee’s plan to drill oil and gas wells within 2,000 feet of homes in Firestone is rejected by regulators
A bid by the state’s largest oil and gas producer to drill 26 wells within 2,000 feet of 62 homes in Firestone was rejected Thursday by Colorado regulators. It was the first major test of the state’s requirement that oil and gas drilling be set back at least 2,000 feet from homes and schools. Both […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s largest oil and gas producer wants permission to drill closer than 2,000 feet from homes
The buffer between homes and oil and gas drilling in Colorado is by rule 2,000 feet, except when it isn’t, and a move to drill in the middle of a residential area in Firestone is raising questions about how secure that buffer will be. The state’s biggest operator, Occidental Petroleum, through its Colorado subsidiary Kerr-McGee, […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News
Colorado drilling company behind leaks, spills will pay a fraction of the massive fine it initially faced
Front Range oil and gas company KP Kauffman has agreed to a comprehensive clean-up of spills and releases from wells, tanks, and flowlines at 74 sites under a “global” remediation plan and to pay a $795,000 fine – just about a fifth of what state regulators initially sought. The compliance agreement was approved by the […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Fine against KP Kauffman for leaks and spills upped to second largest ever by Colorado oil and gas regulators
After concluding that oil and gas operator KP Kauffman had engaged in “a pattern of violations” fines for the company were boosted to $2 million, the second largest penalty ever issued by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. In August, the commission levied a $1.8 million fine on the company, known as KPK, for […]
Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, Energy, Environment, News
Colorado oil and gas company slapped with $1.6 million fine — one of the largest ever from state regulators
KP Kauffman, which operates 1,200 low-producing oil and gas wells on the Front Range, was fined $1.6 million by state regulators Monday for a string of violations from improperly storing waste to failing to report and address spills. It is one of the largest fines the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has ever imposed […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Nearly half of Colorado’s 52,000 wells produce little or no oil. Who’ll pay to plug them?
Sticking out like a sore thumb in the otherwise bucolic, rolling pastures and fields of hay, sit four rusting oil tanks, “Out of Service” stenciled on their sides, along with a scattering of other weathered and unusable equipment. For the better part of three years, Jon and Susanne Stephens have, without success, been trying to […]