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Colorado’s record-setting floods in September did not seriously impact oil and natural gas production in the state, nor result in any environmental disasters, although crude oil production took more of a hit than gas operations, according to a report from the Colorado Oil/Gas Association (COGA).

In the first test of new statewide oil and natural gas drilling chemical disclosure rules established last year, the Colorado Oil/Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) will flex its regulatory muscles soon in pending enforcement activity (Rule 205A) involving 11 operators.

Colorado officials said Tuesday they have found no evidence of contamination from oil or natural gas spills in water samples taken from rivers and streams affected by last month’s flooding.

Colorado officials on Tuesday reported three new flood-related oil spills since an assessment the day before (seeDaily GPI,Sept. 24), bringing to 11 the number of what are designated as “notable releases” by the Colorado Oil/Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).

Although the storms are gone, the troubles from historic flooding along the Front Range in Colorado continued to pop up Thursday in the Niobrara Formation portion of the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. wrestled with oil spills from two of its tank batteries damaged by the still-raging flood waters.

Natural gas and oil operators on Thursday made headway in digging out from nearly a week of torrential rains and flash flooding that has claimed lives and property throughout the Front Range of Colorado. Two oil spills related to Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s operations were getting the major attention of industry and state officials as they continued to make post-storm assessments of the impact of historic flooding.

Colorado, which has about 51,000 active natural gas and oil wells, has toughened regulations for reporting spills at drill sites, a measure expected to inflate the annual numbers.