Colorado to issue record number of permits; likely 17% above last year

Colorado is on track for a second straight record-setting year for the number of oil and natural gas permits issued.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission this year expects the state to issue at least 3,400 permits, or 17 percent above the record 2,917 permits issued last year. The jump comes as surging oil and natural gas prices, coupled with the Bush administration’s push to open up the West for energy development, have galvanized companies to drill more wells.

“It was a big story last year, and it will be even more dramatic this year,” said Brian Macke, director of the oil and gas commission. “This year, we are expecting 3,400 permits or even way beyond that. We already are seeing a significant increase in the level of activity in the first few months.”

So far, massive drilling in Garfield, Weld and Yuma counties has helped Colorado issue 847 permits through March, up 31 percent from the same quarter last year.

Garfield County issued 242 permits through March; Weld issued 241; Yuma, 122; and Las Animas 81. A record 77 drilling rigs are working, up from 56 rigs a year ago and nearly double the number in use at the beginning of 2003.

Macke said that if activity increases, the commission would be concerned about promptly processing permits. Only three staff members are responsible for viewing applications for permits, and it takes an average of 30 days to approve an application. The commission has a roughly $3.3 million annual budget.

Western Business Roundtable executive director Jim Sims said legislation is needed to streamline the application process.

“Much of the West’s energy resources are located on government-controlled lands. To access those resources, energy producers are forced to navigate through a complicated, lengthy labyrinth of regulations,” said Sims, whose group lobbies for more access to the Rocky Mountains for oil and gas drilling.

—The Associated Press