Colorado

Calling it a glimpse of the future under proposed energy regulatory reform now moving through the Colorado legislature, industry representatives are blasting a decision by the Adams County’s elected Board of Commissioners to establish a temporary moratorium on new drilling.

The Colorado Senate on a 19-15 vote Wednesday passed and sent to the lower House a fast-track omnibus bill to extensively reform the oil and natural gas industry, empowering local governments to the exclusion of regulators.

Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. CEO Eric Greager said proposed legislation that is quickly moving through the Colorado legislature might reduce some state regulatory authority, but it could balance oil and gas development and allow more local input over environmental concerns, based on his conversations with peers and trade groups.

PDC Energy Inc. again plans to invest heavily in its Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin properties in northeastern Colorado this year, as it continues to delineate its position and tweak completion designs in the Permian Basin of West Texas.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and legislative leaders want to reform oil and natural gas regulations, allowing more local government input on future energy development and, among other things, strengthen forced pooling requirements for producers.

PDC Energy Inc. plans to cut back this year, setting a capital budget that’s about $150 million lower than in 2018, but core assets in the Permian and Denver-Julesburg (DJ) basins are expected to drive a 20% increase in production growth.

Colorado regulators have asked the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to remove some parcels in the northwestern part of the state from an upcoming oil and gas lease sale and to consider enacting a one-well pad/square mile limit within big game habitat, suggestions that the oil and gas industry opposes.

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of state regulators about how much weight needed to be given to public health and environmental concerns.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has issued an executive order on his waning days in office clarifying the state’s authority in protecting sage grouse habitat.