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 […]
Small Operator Society
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 […]
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 […]
Colorado increases tax on oil and gas operators to fund a $3.4 million shortfall in regulators’ budget
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Tuesday raised the tax it levies on oil and gas production in the state to fill a $3.4 million hole created by declining commodity prices – with the support of both industry and environmental groups. The support on the part of industry was the product of the […]