The question of whether Colorado is and, more importantly, will continue to be a friendly place for the energy industry to do business cannot be answered with dated and misleading analysis.

A Fraser Institute report published in 2007, which has become popular among supporters for stricter rules and regulation of the Colorado natural gas and oil industry names Colorado a top choice for energy companies to do business. Following this claim, supporters of the proposed regulations argue that the potential effects of the new rules on the industry are exaggerated.

This argument is problematic for a number of reasons. Most importantly, the Fraser Institute report was released last year and its results fail to reflect the current overhaul of Colorado’s natural gas and oil regulations. Whether Colorado’s regulatory climate was friendly to the energy industry before today is irrelevant, and to use this report in support of the current rulemaking sends a misleading message to Coloradans.

In addition, the Fraser Institute boasts results representing a significant percentage of natural gas- and oil-producing companies worldwide. However, it fails to provide any statistical validation of its self-selected group or information on how many companies active in Colorado participated. Since the release of its report, the Fraser Institute has stated that very few Colorado operators participated in the study.

On the other hand, the state’s own analysis of Colorado’s regulatory climate, which provides a much more collaborative representation of companies operating in Colorado, found that Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah rely on a more flexible set of rules and regulations than does Colorado.

In a subsequent study conducted by the Fraser Institute, senior fellow Ralph Klein states that “almost all energy projects are planned years in advance and often involve billions of dollars,” and that “with so much at stake, investors need to be confident that governments aren’t going to change the rules in the middle of the game.”

Following the Fraser Institute’s most recent statements, which assert that the natural gas and oil industry need certainty and stability to survive, industry supporters are justified in their concerns that proposed drilling regulations will have significant adverse effects on our economy and may force some companies to reallocate capital.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s economic impact analysis indicates that the additional cost per well resulting from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission draft rules could range from $60,000 to $600,000, depending on the location of the well and, especially, whether it is subject to the proposed wildlife-timing limitations – the state’s 90-day drilling moratorium.

The industry is not asking community members to choose between their local economy and a healthy environment. Colorado natural gas and oil companies have long been supporters of implementing processes that minimize their footprint on the environments in which they operate.

As the state’s No. 1 economic contributor, we’re asking the members of the state oil and gas commissin to slow down the process to create sound policy based on fact rather than emotion and hyperbole, and not underestimate the severe impact that overregulation will have on Coloradans.

Meg Collins is president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association