PARACHUTE – When it comes to oil and gas companies, Bob Arrington has seen them come and seen them go. Arrington has, in succession, wrangled with three different drillers all showing up at his Battlement Mesa doorstep. First there was Antero Resources, which sold out to Ursa Resources, which then went bankrupt with its assets […]
orphan wells
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Oil and gas regulators dial back rules that keep industry from sticking Colorado with bill for orphan wells
Trying to balance a mandate to ensure the state is not stuck with abandoned oil and gas wells against the financial needs of the industry, Colorado regulators have issued a revised plan that has buoyed operators and left environmentalists in despair. Gone from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s initial draft rule for financial […]
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 […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Oil and gas company KP Kauffman may lose right to operate in Colorado due to alleged environmental violations
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 […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Congress should strengthen bonding requirements for abandoned oil and gas wells
As a farmer and former educator, I place a high value on taking care of the land and our environment and teaching future generations to be good stewards. So does every member of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. When it comes to our public lands, we all know it is imperative that they be cleaned […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
An oil company that no longer exists faces a $344,000 fine Colorado doesn’t expect to collect. But that’s the point.
Colorado oil and gas regulators have levied a $344,000 fine they don’t expect to collect from a company that no longer exists. It was a legal stratagem for the state to seize a $20,000 bond from the bankrupt, Houston-based Alta Mesa Resources LP for failing to clean-up an abandoned well site in Huerfano County. The […]
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 inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Joe Biden’s plan would spend $16B to clean up old mines and oil wells and support jobs to do it
By Matthew Daly, The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion plan to transform America’s infrastructure includes $16 billion to plug old oil and gas wells and clean up abandoned mines, a longtime priority for Western and rural lawmakers from both parties. Hundreds of thousands of “orphaned” oil and gas wells and abandoned […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Environmentalists worry Colorado will see a surge of abandoned oil and gas wells as industry tanks
As the oil market craters and the economy is throttled by the novel coronavirus pandemic, environmental and grassroots groups are worrying about a potential surge in abandoned oil and gas wells, but state regulators maintain that the risk appears to be limited. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission held a meeting Monday to review […]