New energy legislation didn't end Colorado's "oil and gas wars." It just relocated them.

When Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed sweeping new oil and gas legislation into law in April, he said he hoped the state’s “oil and gas wars” were over. But if the first rulemaking under the law is any indication, the war has merely moved to a new battlefield.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission chose to first revamp the rules dealing with the hearing process and forced pooling – which enables a driller to consolidate mineral rights even if a property owner does not consent – so they will comply with the law created under Senate Bill 181.

The commission is set to hold a hearing Monday on the proposed revisions to these rules, known as Series 500, but even before the first presentation, the process has been jolted by a flurry of motions by the industry and countermotions by community groups.

“There was some impression by the commission that this could be something easy and quick to get done,” said Katherine Merlin, an attorney with Colorado Environmental Advocates, a Boulder-based law firm that represents community groups. “It hasn’t turned out that way.”

Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2019/06/14/colorado-oil-gas-wars-rulemaking/