Think tank ranks Colorado least attractive state for oil, gas investment - Dayton Business Journal:

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The latest survey was issued June 24. It’es been conducted annually for three yearse by the Fraser Institutein Calgary, Canada. Arizona was left off the list for lack of The survey ranks states as well as other Thefirst survey, in 2007, ranked Coloradi at the top of the list of placew executives considered positively for oil and gas investment. By 2008, the state’ws ranking had fallen to No. 52 out of 81 locationsx aroundthe world. The June 2008 surveyy said executives had grown wary ofthe state’s effortd to tighten rules governinfg oil and gas operations here. The new rules took effec t April 1.
This year, the survey received 577 responsezs and covered 143 jurisdictions around the Coloradoranked No. 81, below California and Mozambique, and abov e the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labradoe and the nation of All three surveys by the institute solicitefanonymous responses. According to the institute’s report, the 10 most attractivew jurisdictions for investmentthis year, according to the are: Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, and The 10 least attractivw jurisdictions for investment are Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Sudan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia.
Respondents ranked states and countries by investment barriera such as hightax rates, costly regulatory and security threats, among other factors. Scores were basef on the proportion of negatives response a jurisdiction the greater the proportion of negative the greater the perceived investmenrt barriers and therefore the lower the jurisdiction according to thesurvey report. The report said investorsa listed several reasons for shifting investmentsx toother areas, ranging from high tax rates, labor shortages, or costly and time-consuming regulations.
The surveg quoted an unnamed executivee saying thatin Colorado, “operational, legal, and air qualitty rules and regulations are being instituted at a dizzyingt pace. It is hard to keep up with as an operator. Most of the regulatorw instituting and enforcing these new rules have littlew or no experience in the industryy and do not understand Often they cannot answer questionsor help, even with theidr own rules.” Colorado’s new oil and gas regulations were backerd by Gov. Bill Ritter and environmentalk groups as needed toprotect Colorado’s wildlife, environmenft and public health assets.
The new rules have been opposed byindustry executives, who have said they will raisee the costs of operating in “This study demonstrates the harsh realithy of an inconsistent regulatory regime, and thesse numbers run contrary to the belief of some policy makeres that Colorado’s energy industry will grow no matter the constraints placexd upon it,” said Meg Collins, president of the Coloradko Oil & Gas Association, in a statement.
But Theo spokesman for the Colorado Department ofNaturapl Resources, which oversees the agency that regulates oil and gas pointed to Colorado investments by big energyu companies such as interested in gettingb at the state’s natural gas. ExxonMobil announcerd June 22 it had doubled its naturalo gas processing capacity on the Western Slopre and planned to drill more wells in the area over the nextseveralk years. “Actions speak louder than words,” Stei said. “Some of the larges North American and global energy companies are busy workinf and investingin Colorado’s future. They are planning to be here producinh clean-burning natural gas for But state Rep.
Frank R-Highlands Ranch, said companies like ExxonMobil have the monegy needed to complywith Colorado’se new rules. “They can absorb the higher costs of production that are associated with the oil and gas McNulty said. “But what the Ritter administration has done is pricede outthe mid- and small-level companiesa that were looking to do business in Colorado.” The Frasefr Institute is a think tank and research center that advocatesa “a free and prosperous world througn choice, markets and responsibility.” .