The plans seek to meet new state financial requirements, but some smaller operators are hoping to put up only a fraction of the needed funds.
orphan wells
Posted inBusiness
Troubled K.P. Kauffman violated state order to stop selling its oil and gas
KPK says it must sell oil and gas or its 1,200 wells may end up orphaned. Regulators say they don’t appreciate the threats.
Posted inBusiness
Troubled oil and gas company K.P. Kauffman threatened with loss of right to do business in Colorado
State’s regulators reinstated a large fine set aside when KPK promised to clean up leaks and spills because just a tiny fraction of the work is done
Posted inBusiness
K.P. Kauffman asks for more time to clean up troubled oil and gas wells. Colorado regulators are out of patience.
KPK says it will be in better financial condition if it sells northeastern Colorado wells to a company proposing to use them for a carbon capture project.
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 inNews
Colorado regulators overhaul rules to ensure there’s money to clean up orphan wells
Colorado oil and gas regulators Tuesday adopted complex financial assurance rules aimed at guaranteeing there is enough money to properly plug all the wells in the state — especially the ones that are low-producing or left orphaned by defunct drillers. The rules come after months of hearings that pitted environmental and community groups that wanted […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Pritchett: Conservation from 1,500 feet reveals an important — if slightly unnerving — perspective
We all have our favorite “little-engine that could” nonprofits—the ones not on most people’s radar, not the Red Cross or UNICEF, but rather the little fellas doing enormous work. My favorite actually has little engines, housed in a few Cessnas, and a few little dogs to boot. EcoFlight is the one for me, not only […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News
Colorado to request $25M in federal aid to help clean up its more than 1,200 orphan wells
Colorado is seeking $25 million from a federal fund to plug orphan oil and gas wells, state officials said, in what could be the first installment of millions in cleanup aid. The money is part of the Biden administration’s infrastructure program, passed by Congress last November. A total of $1.4 billion in plugging and abandonment […]
Posted inNews
When Colorado oil and gas wells are sold to small companies, can the new owners afford the cleanup costs?
While a bunch of aging Rio Blanco County wells haven’t moved a whit, or produced much oil and gas, their corporate address has jumped in the last six years from Kansas to Texas to Highlands Ranch. Owner 1: Koch Exploration was located on the sprawling Wichita, Kansas, campus of Koch Industries, the privately-held conglomerate with […]
Posted inNews
An oil and gas company wants to plug four idle wells. The wells could end up owned by a troubled Colorado operator instead.
THORNTON – An oil and gas rig whirled away on a recent winter day, just a few hundred feet from the swings and slides in Talon View Park. It wasn’t drilling a well, but plugging a string of old, played-out ones – save four of them. Those four may not be plugged, even though the […]