All Forum Posts by: Kelan Donahue

The reasons you should not do this are that the land is expensive, supplies are expensive and tough to come by, and labor is difficult to hire right now. If you have those situations figured out, then go for it. 

The appraisal gap coverage covers the gap between the appraisal and total amount of the loan + down payment. It's money that you were initially hoping to be covered by the loan, but the bank is unwilling to cover now due to a lower appraisal. Equity in the home is accurate. It is not a fee that goes to the seller. 

I'm sure more knowledgeable people than me will explain it better, but that's the gist of it. Down payment I think is how it was categorized on our most recent purchase as well.

That's a good point about re-entry, @Dan Mackin. A change in commodity pricing, change in ownership of the well, or increased production from a different formation could all lead to re-entry.

I found this discussing temporary abandonment vs. permanent in Colorado. Temporary is for six months or less, however, operators can cite reasons that they should be able to exceed that time frame. I don't know how long those extensions can last.

There are currently 1,333 temporarily abandoned wells in Weld County and 5,599 P&Aed wells. 

Completing a well (or fracking) is not directly causing the earthquakes in Oklahoma. When you drill and complete a well, you end up with waste water. That water needs to be disposed of, and the formation that they were injecting into was in the basement. This video is a little old, but it explains it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZUtfEv55Fg

There are some theories that this could be producing smaller earthquakes more frequently, which would be better off than a large earthquake. I'm not sure if those are true or not, and I've spoken to some people that do this professionally who said that was almost impossible to prove. Regardless, there were far too many earthquakes happening in Oklahoma, and the high volumes of water being injected into the Arbuckle formation were reduced. I'm not up to speed there, but from a quick search it looks like there have only been two earth quakes over 4.5 in the last year there and they were 4.6.

There was a 3.4 earthquake north of Greeley in '13 or '14, and I think all signs pointed to it being caused by a disposal well. The company plugged the bottom 400 feet of the well, and I don't think there have been any issues since. 

Recycling that water and re-using it for completions is becoming more common, but that doesn't work for all operators.

I don't think P&A (plug and abandon) projects get posted in advance, but I could be wrong. Sometimes, companies will reach out to local landowners and let them know in advance, but I don't believe there is a requirement. Who is the company? They should have a community outreach contact you could ask. Just keep in mind that projects and plans change very often in this industry.

I don't have an issue living near active drilling locations or existing wells. Noise would be my only concern while the wells are being drilled and completed, and the quiet fleets that are out now have done a good job eliminating that. That being said, there were a few wells that were drilled near my house this past year that other people complained about noise - those people were much closer than me. 

There are about 50 active permits in Erie right now. I have no idea if/when those will get drilled. Extraction and Anadarko are the two companies that have those permits. I am pretty sure that Crestone is also going to permit some more wells.

Air quality is a huge deal right now, and restrictions have gotten tougher in recent years. Here is a report based on several wells drilled in Erie last year. From that report:

"Based on the results from the air sampling data collected adjacent to the Completions Pad, it is unlikely that short-term or long-term exposures would result in negative health effects. There were no exceedances of short-term or long-term health screening levels at any sampling location during this reporting period."

That report does mention that it's very difficult to accurately measure.

Hello,

I live in Erie and work in the O&G industry (I don't do much work in Colorado). There are wells that run underneath our development. There are going to be more wells that continue to be drilled near us. I don't consider it an issue or a concern. Are you going to be on well water? Also, they are called wells, not fracking sites. 

You can see active wells and permits all over the state here:

https://cogccmap.state.co.us/cogcc_gis_online/