2019–2020 Colorado Oil and Gas Law Update

Colorado courts and the state’s legislature were quite active in 2019 and 2020 on the oil and gas administrative law front. Namely, the Colorado General Assembly enacted changes to the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Act in response to the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision in Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission v. Martinez. While the Martinez case was not principally a substantive oil and gas case, the resulting fallout from the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision made sweeping changes to the state’s statutory laws. The decision will also result in major administrative law changes affecting the Colorado oil & gas industry.

This Article will review the Martinez trilogy of cases and summarize the statutory changes resulting from the General Assembly’s action.