Progress Now Action

Here are some Myths & Realities for drilling in Colorado:

Myth: Gas prices are high so we need more drilling to bring them down.

Reality: You have to look at this historically. We have more permits today and more wells in production in Colorado than ever before, yet we're paying record prices. Drilling more is not the answer.

Myth: We have to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Reality: The companies that are doing the drilling will get the best dollar possible for the oil being produced in Colorado. They have no interest in selling to us when they can ship the oil to China and sell it for $140 a barrel. Local production does not mean local consumption. As an example, people in Florida pay the same price for oranges that we do even though our oranges are shipped across the country. Floridians pay the same price that the orange companies can get for oranges anywhere else in the world.

Myth: Oil companies are not making record profits or their return on investment is not as big as they say.

Reality: According to their own presentations to stockholders and investors and their own financial statements, the oil and gas companies that drill in Colorado are making record profits. And their ROIs are enviable in any industry. The cost to take oil and natural gas out of the ground has not changed in ten years ($1.81 mcfl for natural gas and $10 a barrel for oil). Yet the prices are skyrocketing. Ten years ago, when it cost $10 to get a barrel out of the ground and the price was $20 a barrel--oil companies made $10 a barrel. Now that the price is $140 a barrel, the same company is making 13 times the profit.

Myth: The additional drilling is good for Colorado because it brings jobs.

Reality: Drilling does create jobs but those jobs are not being done by Coloradans who have been part and are staying in our communities. We are enticing people from elsewhere to come here earn money and spend it in other places. The additional drilling (and the additional workers) create an economic detriment to the local communities because the communities do not have the money to accommodate the extra people who are using local services like schools, roads, health care, etc. Ask any local mayor if the boom has been good for their town and every mayor will say no.