CPC applauds State Senate passage of new mineral and royalty owner protections

DENVER, May 4, 2018 – Late last night, the Colorado State Senate concurred with the House amendments to the natural gas and oil industry’s compromise statutory pooling bill, Senate Bill 18-230, and the bill now will go to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper for signature.

This important legislation will strengthen Colorado’s regulations around statutory pooling to better protect mineral and royalty owners.

“We are thrilled to see this bill head to the Governor’s desk for signature as the natural gas and oil industry supported improvements to the pooling statute that ensured increased protections for mineral and royalty owners,” said Tracee Bentley, executive director of Colorado Petroleum Council. “CPC took the lead on this important bill and elected officials who supported this bill should be applauded for forgoing political partisanship to support a system that is more understandable and fair for all involved.”

Statutory pooling is a critical process that brings together mineral and royalty owners to ensure fair and even division of products and profits without inhibiting energy development. A few of the key components of SB18-230 include:

• Requiring that an offer to mineral owners must be provided at least 60 days prior to the hearing on the pooling order.
• Requiring that every offer letter sent to mineral owners includes clear and concise language, provided through a link or brochure created by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, of the pooling procedures and the mineral owner’s options pursuant to those procedures.
• Clarifying that non-consenting mineral owners are immune from any liability costs that are related to incidents resulting from oil and natural gas development on that drilling unit.

As the country’s sixth largest producer of natural gas and seventh largest producer of oil, pooling is critical to the continued energy development that is largely responsible for Colorado’s booming economy. Colorado’s energy sector currently employees over 234,000 people, providing nearly $23.1 billion in wages while producing a total economic impact of $31.4 billion.

“With months of stakeholder input in mind, this bill was a forward-looking collaboration between industry and stakeholders that will foster transparency and will strengthen partnership through energy production,” said Bentley. “The industry remains committed to continuing to work with communities and regulators to make modifications that best benefit all stakeholders while maintaining focus on production and public health and safety. We thank Senator Marble and Representative Saine for leading this important discussion and for introducing the bill. We also thank Representative Matt Gray for signing on to the bill.”

The Colorado Petroleum Council is a division of API, which represents all segments of America’s oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 625 members produce, process, and distribute most of the nation’s energy. The industry supports 10.3 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 40 million Americans.