oil and gas
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Colorado’s ‘right to natural gas’ measure submits signatures to qualify for November ballot
A natural-gas rights initiative backed by Advance Colorado is likely headed to the November ballot, triggering a parallel campaign by environmental groups seeking to impose new liabilities on oil and gas operators. Petitions for Initiative No. 177 were turned in to the Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday for review, totaling 200,000 signatures. To make…
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Conservation Colorado proposes measures aimed at oil and gas companies
A group has introduced four ballot measures it says are meant to counter an initiative that aims to enshrine Colorado businesses and consumers’ right to purchase and sell natural gas in the state’s constitution. Filed with the Secretary of State’s Office today, Conservation Colorado’s measures would do the following: The first initiative is a statutory…
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How best to prepare for Colorado’s energy future | OPINION
By Carly West Colorado is at an inflection point on energy. As the state enters its 150th year, decisions about how energy is produced, delivered and regulated are becoming more immediate — and more consequential — for communities across the state. Demand for energy in Colorado continues to grow, and oil and natural gas remain…
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Plan to drill, frack under Aurora Reservoir postponed
Following five days of public comment and deliberation, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission voted to postpone indefinitely the next well pad application in the Lowry Ranch oil and gas plan. The vote to “stay” — or indefinitely postpone until a condition is met — passed 4-1 this week, suspending the application until Civitas’…
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Audit finds major gaps in Colorado’s oil and gas reporting, enforcement
The agencies responsible for regulating Colorado’s oil and gas industry are underperforming when it comes to reporting and enforcement and they also failed to collect payments amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue, according to a state audit. The Office of the State Auditor reviewed 2023 data on oil and gas production…
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BLM leases nearly 8,000 acres in quarterly oil and gas sale
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) recent quarterly oil and gas lease sale totaled around $7 million in receipts and covered nearly 8,000 acres of land. BLM leased 14 Colorado parcels — making up 7,895 acres — to energy companies, granting them the exclusive right to explore and produce oil and gas for 10 years.…
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After rejection by Colorado Supreme Court, federal judge also tosses oil, gas owners’ taxation challenge
A federal judge last month dismissed a lawsuit from a collection of mineral rights owners in Montezuma County, following the Colorado Supreme Court’s conclusion last year that they lacked standing to challenge roughly $500,000 in taxes owed. The long-running dispute centers on the McElmo Dome Unit in southwestern Colorado. Operator Kinder Morgan extracts the carbon…
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Colorado Supreme Court signals possible intervention in lawsuit over climate change impacts
The Colorado Supreme Court signaled on Monday it may intervene in a lawsuit out of Boulder County seeking to make ExxonMobil liable for damages resulting from climate change, one of many ongoing attempts across the country to hold oil and gas producers accountable for the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Boulder County and the city of Boulder…
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Colorado Supreme Court clarifies who owns oil, gas rights beneath streets
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday, citing a need to avoid mass litigation across the state, ruled for the first time that property owners generally retain the mineral rights under roadways adjacent to their land, up to the center line. The decision resolved the question of who is entitled to oil and gas royalties for…
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No ‘right answer’: Colorado justices to decide who owns mineral rights under street
Nearly a half century ago, a developer in Greeley sold off the lots surrounding W. 11th Street Road. The deeds did not explicitly say what happened to the mineral rights underneath the road. Decades later, after advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling rendered the mineral rights under the road – and other rights-of-way across the…