Less than 1% of our public lands are affected by natural gas development.
The site of a former natural gas well, evident only by the stake on the left side, in Garfiled County, Colorado.
Giving back to our communities...
The oil and gas industry provides jobs for nearly 150,000 working men and women in the Intermountain West and generates $23 billion in Colorado alone.
Our families live in large cities and small communities where we are involved as volunteer coaches, teachers, firefighters, elected officials and church leaders. Most of us were born here and we have a special affinity for the land. We too love all that the West has to offer and are committed to protecting our environment.
The energy industry is also committed to giving back, making our communities an even better place to raise our families. Schools and hospitals, food banks and emergency responders - thousands of institutions and social service agencies have benefited from the generosity of the oil and natural gas industry in our region.
Our member companies have been recognized for operating with best practices, for programs to protect wildlife and to expand habitats. We have received environmental awards from state and federal agencies for developing new technologies that reduce the size of drilling locations and allow for drilling multiple wells from a single location, further minimizing our environmental impact.
Our industry strives to be good neighbors, committed to good stewardship of our environment and to improving the communities where we live, work, and play.
A Federal Lease Is Not a Green Light to Develop...
Recently, there have been misleading claims that companies are not actively developing the federal lands they already have under lease. As a result, Congressional leaders have proposed legislation that would create significant new hurdles to independent producers willing to risk their capital to develop American energy for America.
An oil and gas lease is a definite maybe...
- Maybe you'll get through all the environmental analyses and regulatory hurdles
- Maybe you'll get permission to drill
- Maybe your project won't be held up by legal challenges
- Maybe you'll find oil or natural gas.
But you'll definitely have to pay...
- Over the past five years, the industry has paid billions of dollars into the U.S. and State Treasuries to obtain leases
- Each lease is an at-risk investment, with no guarantee that energy resources will be found or that it will return any revenue to the leaseholder
When Congress and environmental groups talk about leased acres supposedly sitting idle, they show no knowledge of the fact that the process to approve and permit oil and natural gas projects is cumbersome and extremely time consuming.
What Congress can do:
- Pass legislation to ensure environmental analysis occurs in a timely manner
- Ensure the government issues permits in a timely manner
- Make frivolous lawsuits designed to slow oil and gas activity illegal
With these and other roadblocks removed, oil and gas operators in the Intermountain West would be able to diligently develop their federal acreage, increase production of vital domestic energy resources, and help to reduce energy prices to consumers.
