The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission intends to give companies the option of laying out their long-term drilling plans for an area, identifying impacts and listing ways to minimize them.

In exchange, drilling would be exempt from certain regulatory requirements.

Commission acting director Dave Neslin said the comprehensive drilling plan process might work particularly well for some companies working in Garfield County, citing Antero Resources as an example. Antero previously worked with communities and residents by putting forth a cmmunity development plan for reducing its impacts between Rifle and New Castle.

“It makes a lot of people’s jobs so much easier,” said Jon
Black, Antero’s operations manager in the Piceance Basin.

Black said Antero needs to amend that plan as it moves
operations north of U.S. Highway 6. In conjunction with that,
it will begin preparing a comprehensive drilling plan for state
officials.

Final action on the new COGCC rules is not expected to be completed until December, but the commission has given preliminary approval to rules regarding comprehensive drilling plans.

Neslin says that the new plans can cover topics such as emergency response, weed control, spill prevention and traffic-related issues. Under the comprehensive drilling plan process for Colorado, Antero and other oil and gas developers would have to consult with wildlife and public health agencies and local governments.

Other major players on the West Slope such as Williams Production RMT and Chevron think the planning process might make sense for them, depending on the commission’s finalized rewrite of rules. Chevron’s Kristi Pollard said an impact assessment the company already executed for the De Beque area would be useful if it creates a comprehensive plan. Williams representative, Susan Alvillar, pointed out that her company already has done something similar by working with government agencies to cluster development to minimize effects on wildlife.