Dacono – A homebuyer in the new Eagle Meadow subdivision will have a spectacular Rocky Mountain vista – and possibly a view of two nearby pumpjacks sucking oil out of the ground.
“At this point, I’ll have no other choice than to build around them,” said Eagle Meadow’s developer Don Finley, pointing to the oil pumps. “Because I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
Beneath Finley’s new subdivision lies the Wattenberg Field, the state’s second-largest natural-gas field.
While the developers in the state’s fastest-growing region have co-existed with the oil and gas industry for 30 years, the pace of growth in northern Colorado and the escalating cost of gas are now testing that relationship.
Developers and the oil and gas industry will square off today at a hearing before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission over a proposal to increase the number of wells by a maximum of 60 percent, or about 8,000 wells.
The sprawling field, with more wells than Saudi Arabia, currently supplies about a third of the natural gas used by Front Range homes and businesses.
More wells, however, are needed to reach untapped deposits trapped inside four gas-rich formations, industry officials say.
Under the proposal, Kerr-McGee Corp., EnCana Corp. and Noble Energy Marketing Inc. would add three wells on each 160-acre section of land in the 2,500-square-mile field, which extends from Brighton to Windsor.
The companies plan on spending about 25 percent more per well – up to $600,000 – to use directional drilling from existing well pads.
Industry officials say this will reduce the impact on property they share with homes, retail stores and offices, said Doug Hock, an EnCana spokesman.
“It’s really about accessing the resource that we can’t currently access,” Hock said.
Some northern Colorado developers and ranchers, however, see the proposal as a big land grab by the industry.
About 100 landowners, including Finley, have retained Denver attorneys Lance Astrella and T.R. Rice to oppose the plan.
“Our clients are forced to plan around potential oil and gas development that they don’t know when or if it will ever take place,” Rice said.
Finley estimates he’ll lose about 10 lots as he builds around the existing oil-field equipment in the Eagle Meadow subdivision.
In an effort to blunt the critics, the three energy companies recently made changes to the proposal, including reducing the size of the field by 30 percent and restricting the wells to three tight sand formations. If the commission grants the industry request, company officials say the Wattenberg Field’s life can be extended 20 to 30 years.
If the new drilling isn’t approved, the field will begin losing reserves at a rate of about 2 percent annually, said Ken Wonstolen, attorney for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
“As we’ve continued production, we’ve maintained farming and ranching, so there’s no doubt in my mind these additional wells can be accommodated in the same fashion,” he said.
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.
