FLORENCE, Colo.—This once-gushing, oil-producing town could be returning to its century-and-a-half old mining roots if the “black gold” of Florence Oil Field continues to show a viable pool of crude oil.
Oil first was discovered in the Florence area in 1860, when black liquid was spotted oozing from the ground at the edges of an oil spring near Oil Creek. G. Bowen is credited with discovering the site, but it never produced more than a barrel a day.
According to the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists’ documentary, “Lighting the Frontier, The story of Colorado’s Florence Oil Field,” the first drilled oil discovery came in 1880 when Alexander M. Cassiday bored down 1,445 feet and hit oil in Florence Oil Field, south of the current town of Florence.
More wells were drilled because there was a demand for better and cheaper ways of lighting homes. Crude oil was distilled for use as kerosene for lanterns.
In its oil heyday, roughly between 1894 and 1902, Florence boasted three oil refineries and had approximately 25 oil companies overseeing 500 wells that produced 15 million barrels of oil. The oil field covered 25 square miles and, at its peak, produced 2,000 barrels a day. Unlike other oil fields where limestone is present, Florence’s oil comes from the Pierre shale rock near the bottom of the basin.
Florence slowly was abandoned as oil-seekers were lured to Texas by larger gushers.
“One well is still producing from the time it was originally drilled in the 1880s,” said Tom Piltingsrud, Florence city manager. “It is the second oldest oil well in the nation.”
Florence morphed into a gold-smelting center after gold was discovered in Cripple Creek. It also was a coal-mining town with several mines in the area.
More recently, Florence has reaped steady income from its four-prison federal prison complex just south of town and from its reputation as the antique capital of Colorado.
But with all things tending to be cyclical, it would seem Florence is returning to an oil town, at least on a smaller scale.
“We are focused on developing U.S. energy and oil resources to assist the people of the United States in gaining energy independence from foreign oil,” said Andy Lydyard, managing director of Comet Ridge Resources, which not only is focusing on U.S. oil projects, but also oversees oil exploration in Australia.
Lydyard confirmed that in Colorado, Comet Ridge is seeking to drill more oil in the Florence Oil Field area, south of the federal prison complex just off Colorado 67. Comet Ridge also hopes to drill for oil in Tow Creek, just west of Milner near Steamboat Springs.
“They’ve drilled four wells in the field,” Piltingsrud said.
“It’s a start,” said Larry Lasha of Florence, a Fremont County commissioner. “These are exciting times. Mineral and oil exploration are what Fremont County is built on, after all.”
Restarting the oil-drilling industry has not necessarily been easy.
“The wells we drilled recently took us two months to get permits (for), and that is something that used to take 30 days maximum. We are somewhat hampered by the ever-increasing regulatory changes of the government of Colorado,” Lydyard said.
Lydyard said his company attempts to extract oil where oil already has been found. The history is what brought Comet Ridge to Florence.
“We look at it from an efficiency standpoint to save time, value and energy. Florence was one of the biggest producers, and oil is a significant resource in the state. So with new technology and new ideas, we can chip away at the foreign oil import,” Lydyard said.
Piltingsrud said new technology allows for sideways drilling into a pool, not just vertically. Three-dimensional testing, which started last year in the Florence Oil Field, involves vibration of the ground to help Comet Ridge map where the pools are located.
“They think the oil is present within 8 square miles south of the Minnequa Canal,” Piltingsrud said. “Now they are waiting on more permits from the state. If (the pools) produce what they hope for, they will put two or three tanks around there to pump the oil into for storage, and then the oil will be trucked out.”
Piltingsrud said the oil has been determined to be quality, sweet crude, meaning it is easy to refine.
“With the new technology, I imagine what they get out of the wells is miles and miles of difference from the old days,” Lasha said.
If state permits are granted, Comet Ridge expects to hire 25 percent of its work force locally. Lydyard, citing the competitiveness of the industry, declined to comment further on specifics of the operation.
“We will bring in work and people who spend money. We spend a lot of money in Fremont County in support of local businesses who supply us with what we need,” Lydyard said.
Piltingsrud agreed, pointing out, “They have purchased raw water from the city of Florence, filled one of our motels here with workers, bought locally supplies they’ve needed, and they are eating here. This could be a big shot in the arm when they get going next year.”
“From our point of view, we love to contribute to the city’s wellness and the revitalization of an incredible historic area,” Lydyard said. “We are quite capable of coexisting with real estate developers and will bend over backward to accommodate them.”
Lydyard also said the company is aware of mitigation and being responsible.
“I am not a rampant ‘anti-greenie,'” Lydyard said. “I have a responsibility to the next generation, including my own three young kids, to protect the environment.”
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