Colorado Petroleum Council Responds to Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s New Flowline Regulations

DENVER, November 21, 2019 – Today, Lynn Granger, executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Council, provided the following statement in response to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s adoption of new regulations on flowlines in the state:

“The Commission and staff should be commended for their hard work and diligence in working with all stakeholders in recent weeks to narrow the range of differences among the parties. Today’s outcome increases transparency and reflects a shared commitment toward protecting and enhancing public health, safety and the environment, of which we can all be proud.

“Colorado’s natural gas and oil industry is largely supportive of the new regulations. However, we continue to have concerns with respect to the scale and specificity of a publicly available map, both for security and safety reasons. While we fully support the public’s desire to know the general locations of flowlines, we worry that such mapping could be used as a substitute for the ‘Call Before You Dig’ 811 Program, which could present significant safety concerns. We similarly worry that such detailed mapping could invite vandalism and pursuant risks to public safety. 

“With respect to flowline removal taking precedence over safe abandonment, we recognize the Commission’s work to allow for exceptions to removal in many scenarios in these rules and appreciate those changes. We will continue to advocate for safe abandonment of flowlines in place whenever we believe it to be the most appropriate solution.

“We are grateful to have had the opportunity to substantively contribute to these discussions as they progressed. Public health, safety and the environment has been and continues to be our top priority.”

The Colorado Petroleum Council is a division of API, which represents all segments of America’s oil and natural gas industry. Our more than 600 members produce, process and distribute most of the nation’s energy. The industry supports more than ten million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of millions of Americans. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization. In our first 100 years, API has developed more than 700 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.