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 […]

Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, Health, Housing, News, Politics and Government

Colorado is behind on targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. How far should the state push industry to get there?

The Polis administration is set this month to complete its “roadmap” for cutting Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions, but critics question whether the route is clear enough — and the milestones realistic enough — to get Colorado where it needs to go. In a nod to some of the challenges, air quality and energy officials are […]

Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, Health, News

“Flaring” at oil and gas wells to be curtailed as Colorado regulators adopt some of nation’s strictest rules

Flaring, the practice of burning off gas from oil and gas wells, will be limited to a handful of state-approved circumstances under the most comprehensive rules in the nation, adopted Thursday by Colorado regulators. “We’ve done a good job for Colorado and the nation,” Jeff Robbins, the chairman of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation […]

Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government

Oil and gas companies must monitor fracking emissions as Colorado adopts first-in-the-nation rules to reduce air pollution

Oil and gas companies will have to control and monitor emissions from fracking and meet tighter emission-performance standards on the electric motors used at drill sites, under some first-in-the-nation rules passed Wednesday night by Colorado air quality regulators. The new rules for the so-called pre-production phase are in addition to regulations the state’s Air Quality […]

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

Chevron buys Noble Energy for $5 billion, causing a stirring in the oil patch

NEW YORK — Chevron will take over Noble Energy for $5 billion in the first big deal announced since the coronavirus pandemic shook the energy sector. Chevron has been shopping for assets since last year and with crude prices down more than 30% this year, it jumped Monday with its all-stock offering for the independent […]

Posted inSun Investigation

Oil and gas and private donors paid for initiatives in Hickenlooper’s administration, investigation finds

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper accepted millions of dollars from corporations and nonprofits to fund initiatives and positions in his office — an arrangement that came with limited oversight and public disclosure despite the potential conflicts of interest. The most significant corporate donations came from the oil and gas industry, where Anadarko Petroleum and Noble […]

Posted inBusiness, COVID, Energy, Environment, News

Colorado’s oil and gas producers are slashing budgets, closing wells as demand and cash flow dwindles

Oil and gas drilling in Colorado hit a historic low in May with only six drill rigs operating and an average for the month of seven drilling platforms – the fewest in the 28 years that oil field services company Baker Hughes has kept monthly records by state. In the Denver-Julesburg/Niobrara Basin, which extends along […]

Posted inPolitics and Government

Dark money group drops $500,000 to help put a paid family leave initiative on November ballot

A dark money Democratic powerhouse is fueling a potential ballot initiative to require paid sick leave. Sixteen Thirty Fund put $500,000 into Colorado Families First, an issue committee that is aiming to put the measure on the November ballot, according to new campaign finance reports filed this week. Sixteen Thirty, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that […]