GRAND JUNCTION — Colorado is poised to have its second-busiest year for issuing oil and gas drilling permits despite stricter regulations that took effect last year, a state regulator said.
Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Director David Neslin said the state has issued more than 3,100 permits through the first six months of the year and is on pace to issue more than 6,500 by the end of the year. That would be a 30 percent increase from last year.
“This would make 2010 the second-busiest year for permitting in the state’s history despite the twin impediments of low natural-gas prices and decreased economic activity,” Neslin said in a memo this week. He said Colorado is among the leaders nationwide in permits issued and has the most in the Rocky Mountain region.
Wyoming is the second-busiest in the region with more than 2,700 permits so far, Neslin said.
Neslin said in his memo that Garfield County led the state in permits through June, with 1,089. Weld County was second, with 1,010. The Associated Press
