Colorado posts third-busiest year in natural gas drilling

The Associated Press

There were 2,245 permits issued to drill natural gas wells in Colorado last year, the third-highest total ever, and state officials say they expect a record this year.

Some 2,500 drilling permits are expected to be granted this year, said Brian Macke, deputy director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The forecast was based on a survey of 600 gas operators.

The record is 2,378 permits in 1980, followed by 2,273 in 2001.

Macke said strong natural gas prices and a government push to open more public land to drilling are some of the reasons for the increased activity.

The top two counties for drilling activity were Weld and Garfield.

There were 756 permits issued in Weld County last year, while Garfield County had 566.

But western Colorado’s Garfield County posted the largest one-year increase, with 204 more permits than in 2002. Macke said the increase is due to increased interest in the gas-rich Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado and eastern Utah.

The two largest gas operators in the county, EnCana Oil and Gas and Williams Production, both plan to be busy again this year.

EnCana spokeswoman Sherry Long said the company plans to drill nearly 300 wells in the Mamm Creek field south of Rifle and Silt. A Williams official, Steve Soychak, said about 200 wells are planned this year in the Rulison and Grand Valley fields from Rifle to Parachute.

Macke said 1,619 active wells have been drilled in Garfield County over the years and 1,465 of those are considered producing wells.

Rio Blanco County also had a sharp increase in drilling permits last year — 179 compared with 105 in 2002. That was enough to tie the county with Las Animas County for the third-highest total in the state.