Colorado Drilling Permits
The DJ Basin's Niobrara and Codell formations are major oil targets. Colorado has strict setback regulations (2,000 ft from homes) affecting drilling locations.
All Time
As of October 2, 2026
Recent Activity
As of October 2, 2026
Year over Year
Top Operators in Colorado
| Rank | Operator | Permits (30d) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FUNDARE RESOURCES OPERATING COMPANY LLC | 27 | 30.3% |
| 2 | PDC ENERGY INC | 14 | 15.7% |
| 3 | BISON IV OPERATING LLC | 8 | 9.0% |
| 4 | DUNAMIS ENERGY OPERATING LLC | 8 | 9.0% |
| 5 | KERR MCGEE OIL & GAS ONSHORE LP | 8 | 9.0% |
| 6 | SCOUT ENERGY MANAGEMENT LLC | 5 | 5.6% |
| 7 | NOBLE ENERGY INC | 4 | 4.5% |
| 8 | PETROLEUM RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CORP | 4 | 4.5% |
| 9 | CRESTONE PEAK RESOURCES OPERATING LLC | 4 | 4.5% |
| 10 | ENDURING RESOURCES LLC | 4 | 4.5% |
Find Wells Near You in Colorado
Search for oil wells, gas wells, and drilling permits near any Colorado address. Enter a city, ZIP code, or street address to find recent well permit activity in your area.
We use your location only to run this search. Analytics never receives your address, ZIP code, or coordinates.
Target Formations
13
NIOBRARA
86.7%
2
CODELL
13.3%
Major Basins in Colorado
Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin
Rig-count data for this basin is currently unavailable.
Piceance Basin
Rig-count data for this basin is currently unavailable.
Data Source
Data Coverage
1898-01-01 to 2026-10-02
Source Check Schedule
Configured daily (business days)
Last successful check: unavailable. This is separate from the permit-record date.
Access This Data via API
Access Colorado well permit data programmatically. Historical data, trends, and more.
/v1/drilling-intelligence/well-permits?state=COcurl -X GET "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/drilling-intelligence/well-permits?state=CO"
Sample Response
{
"data": {
"state": "Colorado",
"state_code": "CO",
"total_permits": 124388,
"last_30_days": 89,
"last_365_days": 1323,
"year_over_year_change": "-19.9%",
"top_operators": [
{
"name": "FUNDARE RESOURCES OPERATING COMPANY LLC",
"permits": 27,
"pct_share": "30.3%"
},
{
"name": "PDC ENERGY INC",
"permits": 14,
"pct_share": "15.7%"
},
{
"name": "BISON IV OPERATING LLC",
"permits": 8,
"pct_share": "9.0%"
}
]
},
"meta": {
"source": "Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC)",
"data_as_of": "2026-10-02",
"source_checked_at": null,
"configured_check_cadence": "daily"
}
}Colorado Drilling Permit FAQs
Colorado has 124,388 historical drilling permits in the returned dataset, with 89 records in its latest 30-day calculation. The latest returned permit date is October 2, 2026. The configured daily source-check schedule is not a guarantee that the dataset is current to the regulator.
Colorado includes the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin, Piceance Basin basins. The DJ Basin's Niobrara and Codell formations are major oil targets. Colorado has strict setback regulations (2,000 ft from homes) affecting drilling locations.
The top operators in Colorado by permit count are: FUNDARE RESOURCES OPERATING COMPANY LLC (30.3%), PDC ENERGY INC (15.7%), BISON IV OPERATING LLC (9.0%).
Official permit data comes from the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) (https://ecmc.state.co.us/). OilPriceAPI aggregates this data and provides it via API with historical trends and operator analytics.
Weekly Drilling Report
See how Colorado compares to other states in our weekly permit analysis with interactive map and operator rankings.
This Week in Well Permits →