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Energy giant to pour $2.4 billion into La Plata County

BP plans to boost oil, gas production over next 13 years

Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 1, 2007 at midnight

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Energy giant BP PLC plans to invest $2.4 billion in La Plata County over the next 13 years to dramatically accelerate oil and gas production in the southwestern corner of the state.

The investment includes drilling 700 wells, acquiring one more drilling rig, and adding staff and technology. BP currently operates one rig and produces 425 million cubic feet of gas per day.

It was Colorado's No. 1 gas producer in 2005 and accounted for more than half the gas produced in that county. Oil and gas companies pay two-thirds of La Plata County's property tax.

BP hopes to recover 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas in La Plata County during the next 13 years. The goal is to increase production by 20 percent, company spokesman Dan Larson said.

"The amount of investment is an assurance by BP to the business community and the people of La Plata County that we believe there is enough business for us here for at least the next 10 years," Larson said.

Larson said BP would acquire an additional rig this year that could double the number of wells the company drills each year to about 100.

The London-based company, Europe's second-largest energy firm, employs 270 full-time workers and 500 contractors in Colorado.

BP also plans to build an office building in La Plata County that could house up to 350 full-time employees, an indication the company plans to beef up staffing, Larson added.

Josh Joswick of the San Juan Citizens Alliance, an environmental group, questioned whether the expansion would hurt the county's economy.

"Will this promote a boom-bust cycle by accelerating production?" he said.

The San Juan basin, which straddles La Plata County and parts of New Mexico, is a prolific coal bed-methane gas field.

The investment by BP is a part of the company's plan to spend more than $45 billion over a decade on exploration and production in the United States. It is the No. 1 oil and gas producer in the nation.

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