Why You Shouldn’t Count Colorado Oil and Gas Out

With a rigorous regulatory and environmental framework, here’s why oil and gas producers in the Centennial State have a key role to play in the “clean energy future,” according to Dan Haley, CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.

Hart Energy Staff

Thu, 10/14/2021 - 12:00 PM

1.10 Why You Can’t Keep Colorado Down

While the regulatory environment in Colorado has made drilling for oil and gas a bit tougher, the investment may still be worth it.

“The reason you shouldn’t count [Colorado] out is we’re figuring this out—we’re figuring out the model that I think will bring us into the future,” Dan Haley, CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), said during Hart Energy’s recently held DUG Bakken and Rockies virtual conference.

Given the regulatory environment, Colorado oil and gas is responsibly produced, meaning that in this ESG-centric world there’s opportunity ahead for producers in the state, according to Haley.

“As the world gets more concerned about climate change, as it gets more concerned with ensuring that we’re delivering and producing resources cleaner and better than ever before,” he continued, “I think people will begin to look toward Colorado where we have this environmental standard that is set by the state in many cases but is also set by our operators through innovation and technology out in the field.”

Colorado is home to several large oil and gas basins including the Denver-Julesburg (D-J) and the Niobrara Shale, one of the major shale formations in the U.S.

Under the state’s rigorous regulatory framework and environmental rules, however, operators in the D-J and elsewhere throughout Colorado are able to produce the cleanest oil and natural gas molecules than most any place on the planet, according to Haley. This differentiation, he said, will prove important as the state pursues a different path forward from other states, such as California and Texas, with balancing growing energy and climate demands.

“If we’re looking at how do we go forward as a country, how do we go forward as a world, a global community and produce a resource that we know we need,” he said, “I think people will begin looking to Colorado.”

“We’ve got really good rocks here,” he added. “We’ve got good oil and natural gas and we’re getting it out of the ground cleaner than most places on the planet. So, you can’t count out a place that has a clear path toward the future.”

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