American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2016 - 82

ConventionCoverage: Colorado Oil & Gas Association

Oil & Gas Remain Active
Participant In State
By Dan Larson
Special Correspondent
DENVER-Colorado's oil and natural
gas industry remains an active participant
in the state's energy policy dialogue and
its regulatory developments while staying
engaged with communities in efforts to
keep onerous rules off the books and
public support for the industry strong,
according to association leadership and
the state's chief executive.
The Colorado Oil & Gas Association's
annual meeting provided members with
a review of victories on the regulatory
front and in the run-up to the election, as
well as a report by a free-market economist
on the unrealized strength of the domestic
economy and the important role energy
plays in building that strength.
"What we are doing in the legislature
and the community is working," assured
COGA President and Chief Executive
Officer Dan Haley.
In the past year, oil prices have kept
the industry "on a roller coaster ride," he
observed.
"We can't control the commodity price,
but we can work hard to engage regulators,
to build relationships, to educate, and to
innovate," Haley commented. "The three
pillars of our business strategy-regulatory
engagement, legislative participation, and
community outreach-help create a more

stable and predictable operating environment for our members."
Held Nov. 2 at the Denver Marriott
City Center Hotel, COGA's annual meeting
was attended by 625 members and guests,
the largest attendance ever according to
COGA, and featured speeches by Colorado
Governor John Hickenlooper and economist Stephen Moore.
Willingness To Work
Hickenlooper credited COGA and its
leadership with continuing, and even expanding, the industry's efforts to reach
out to communities, and to work with
state regulators and elected officials.
Noting the COGA meeting was held
on the morning of game seven of the
World Series, Hickenlooper compared
the success of the Chicago Cubs under
its baseball operations president, Theo
Epstein, with the success COGA had
achieved under its board leadership and
executive staff.
"Over the past decade, COGA has
recognized that public sentiment matters,"
the governor said. "Your leadership continues to show a willingness to work with
the state on difficult and complex issues.
That readiness has borne fruit."
Hickenlooper credited the industry's
success in turning the Denver-Julesburg
Basin into one of the most productive in
the country as being a driving force in

COGA President and Chief
Executive Officer Dan Haley
(left) pauses with Colorado
Governor John Hickenlooper
during the Colorado Oil &
Gas Association's annual
meeting, Nov. 2 in Denver.
Hickenlooper praised COGA's
efforts to work with communities, state regulators, and
elected officials.

82 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Colorado's faster recovery from the 2008
recession than other states.
Citing the economic engine oil and
gas provide the state, Hickenlooper noted
that in 2014, the direct and indirect economic impact to Colorado was $32 billion,
including more than 100,000 jobs and
$1.2 billion in revenue to the state. "In a
state with a bit more than 5 million
people, that is significant," he allowed.
On the flip side, the industry in Colorado, as elsewhere, is suffering the effects
of a lingering commodity price downturn
that could turn out to be "the worst in the
past 25 or 30 years," Hickenlooper said,
acknowledging the effects such contractions have on industry employment.
In his introduction of Hickenlooper,
Haley noted the governor earned a master's
in geology and had worked as a petroleum
geologist in western Colorado until he
was laid off during the prolonged oil
price downturn of the mid-1980s. "He
understands our business," Haley said.
Two years after being laid off, Hickenlooper quit geology and opened in
Denver one of the first brewpubs in the
country. He has credited that career decision as setting him on the path that eventually took him to the governor's office.
"Your industry is constrained by market
cycles and the uncertainty that comes
with that," Hickenlooper remarked. "But
if there is a silver lining, it is that downturns
drive innovation."
Recognize Innovation
Governor Hickenlooper admitted that
even with his oil and gas background, he
did not at first appreciate the importance
of the innovations that swept the industry
in the last decade.
"I did not recognize the synergies created when horizontal drilling was combined with the latest hydraulic fracturing
techniques in the early 2000s," he admitted.
"Not only did this provide access to new
resources, it drove increases in efficiency
that brought the cost to develop a well
down from more than $4.0 million to
$2.5 million today."
At the same time, Hickenlooper acknowledged, oil and gas companies are

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