American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2018 - 110

Fifteen years later, Hickenlooper entered
politics, won election as mayor of Denver,
and in 2010 was elected governor.
"I am proud of our record of protecting
property rights and access to resources,"
Hickenlooper stated. "During my two
terms, we had a focus on listening and
collaboration. We were also insistent that
the dialogue continued and that even if
the people on one side were furious and
walked out, that they walked back in."
Hickenlooper noted that during his
two terms in office, his administration
reviewed for possible improvement all
24,000 state regulations as a means of
strengthening and diversifying the state's
economy. "In that time, we eliminated or
simplified half those rules and regulations,"
he reported.
The governor added that the yearlong
effort to overhaul the state's fugitive air
emissions regulations, which were approved in 2014, had become a model for
several states and Canada.
Awards, Community Impact
The winner of the 2018 Summit Industry Advocate award was Peter Moore,
chairman and CEO of Vital for Colorado,
a business advocacy group recognized
for its information resources and diverse
base of support.
Under Moore's leadership, Vital for
Colorado has built a coalition of supporters
from multiple industries that "demonstrate
the value of oil and natural gas in our
state," Haley noted.
This year's Emerging Leader Award
went to Heidi Gill, founder of Urban Solution Group, a supplier of oil field sound
walls that "meet the needs of industry
and the communities we serve," Haley
observed.
Recognizing his decades-long career
in the oil and gas industry, COGA's Fred
Julander Lifetime Achievement Award
was presented to Peter Dea, president of
Confluence Resources. In addition to a
successful, 35-year career in the industry,
Dea was recognized for his "commitment
to Colorado, his leadership roles at several
academic and cultural institutions and
contributions to communities throughout
the state," Haley said.
The association also released its first
community impact report during the Energy Summit. The report provided details
and examples of oil and gas industry
contributions to the state's families in
need, healthcare research and education.
According to the report, industry donations in 2017 totaled nearly $10 million,
with more than 42,000 hours of volunteer
work and services provided to more than

500 local community organizations. Member companies and workers "demonstrated
unprecedented leadership" and "made a

positive impact across our state," Haley
affirmed.
r

Political Challenges Plentiful
During Industry's Recovery
DENVER-As Colorado's oil and natural gas industry cranks up unified opposition to a setback ballot initiative, leaders
of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association
also are preparing for their annual meeting
while continuing to engage with regulators
and stakeholder groups, and cheering the
industry's strong recovery across the Denver-Julesburg Basin.
Conflict between industry and opposition groups can be traced to the physical
intersection of rapidly growing suburban
communities and the prolific shale formations that underlie the region, considers
COGA President and Chief Executive
Officer Dan Haley.
"Of the 10 fastest growing cities in
Colorado, seven are in areas of active oil
development," he observes. "Neighborhood encroachment on areas where oil
development and production is ongoing
remains the biggest issue our operators
will face in the coming years."
At its annual meeting, scheduled for
Nov. 14 at the Denver Marriott City Center,
the association also will highlight new
flowline regulations, a likely increase to
the state's well plugging bond requirements
and possible new air quality restrictions.
The association describes the event as
COGA's largest member company gathering, and says the meeting will review
the previous year's activities, look ahead
to 2019 and elect its Board of Directors.
According to Vice President of Operations Sara Reynolds, COGA's member
roster has grown to 265 companies in
2018. "Membership in the association is
strong and we have had a healthy year,"
she reports. "It has been a good year for
the industry in Colorado; people are working and we are making a significant contribution to the economy."
And as the industry's recovery gains
momentum, it must pay particular attention
to the areas in which it works, Reynolds
suggests. "It is important for operators to
remain attentive to the issues and concerns
of their neighbors and local governments,"
she advises. "Good connections don't
happen overnight. Elected officials in
local governments are turning over constantly, so operators have to take the time
to educate and become trusted members
of their communities."

110 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Election Focus
Since Labor Day, COGA has focused
most of its attention on the November
mid-term elections, Haley notes, with
races including the U.S. House of Representatives and governor. The ballot also
will feature more than a dozen statewide
initiatives, of which two pertain directly
to oil and gas. One of them, Proposition
112, seeks to establish a statutory well
setback of 2,500 feet for new oil and gas
development, including fracturing, from
occupied buildings such as homes, schools,
hospitals and other areas designated as
vulnerable (AOGR, Sept. 2018, pg. 130).
Haley explains that COGA's role in
the campaign to defeat Prop. 112 is to
support the industry issues committee,
known as Protect Colorado, and focusing
on "educating, informing and mobilizing
our workforce so it knows exactly what
is at stake."
A COGA fact sheet details the many
ways in which passing Prop. 112 threatens
to devastate the oil and natural gas industry,
eliminate jobs and drastically reduce tax
revenue. The industry's vigorous opposition to the ballot measure can be seen
in the financial support generated for the
Protect Colorado campaign. According
to a Sept. 4 filing with the Colorado Secretary of State's office, during August,
Protect Colorado raised $7.9 million and
spent $4.8 million on its campaign to defeat Prop. 112. The report indicated Protect
Colorado began September with $8.6
million in its war chest.
COGA's part in the campaign is to
"let the 100,000 energy industry workers
in Colorado know what they can do to
defend their livelihoods," Haley describes.
"We will inform them which candidates
support our industry and which do not."
"Our role is not to tell people how to
vote," he adds. "We do want our members
to see where candidates stand on the issues."
The effort to inform members of candidates' positions was manifested at this
year's Energy Summit conference when
both major party gubernatorial candidates
spoke, Haley notes, and both Democrat
Jared Polis and Republican Walker Stapleton expressed opposition to the setback measure.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2018

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