Annual state report shows regulators approved 838 new wells in 2022, with a sharp increase on the Front Range
John Messner
Posted inBusiness
Working group will begin exploring rules for controlling the cumulative impacts of oil and gas drilling in Colorado
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
Posted inClimate, Energy, News, Politics and Government
First comprehensive oil and gas drilling plan under Colorado’s new regulations gets go-ahead
Colorado’s first comprehensive oil and gas development plan — a new mechanism aimed at better assessing and managing the cumulative impacts of drilling — was approved by state regulators Wednesday, paving the way for more than 200 new wells in Weld County. Kerr-McGee, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., got a greenlight from Colorado Oil […]
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, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s largest driller still wants to put wells within 2,000 feet of homes, but offers some concessions
Kerr-McGee reversed course Wednesday and agreed to use an electric rig and non-polluting drilling muds and to pipe waste water off site in a bid to drill oil and gas wells within 2,000 feet of homes in a Firestone neighborhood. Kerr-McGee, the state’s biggest oil and gas producer, announced the concessions during a Colorado Oil […]
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, 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, Coloradans, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government
Here’s who Gov. Polis just named to sit on the new, full-time panel regulating Colorado oil and gas
The full-time oil and gas commission that will handle the development of some of the most controversial regulations mandated by the legislature in 2019, was announced Monday by Gov. Jared Polis. The five-member commission, which takes over July 1, will replace the nine-member, volunteer body that has been working for the last year on regulations […]