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 August 17, 2026
Recent Activity
As of August 17, 2026
Year over Year
Top Operators in Colorado
| Rank | Operator | Permits (30d) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DUNAMIS ENERGY OPERATING LLC | 18 | 22.5% |
| 2 | BISON IV OPERATING LLC | 11 | 13.8% |
| 3 | KERR MCGEE OIL & GAS ONSHORE LP | 10 | 12.5% |
| 4 | VERDAD RESOURCES LLC | 9 | 11.2% |
| 5 | BONANZA CREEK ENERGY OPERATING COMPANY LLC | 6 | 7.5% |
| 6 | GMT EXPLORATION COMPANY LLC | 6 | 7.5% |
| 7 | CRESTONE PEAK RESOURCES OPERATING LLC | 5 | 6.2% |
| 8 | FULCRUM ENERGY OPERATING LLC | 4 | 5.0% |
| 9 | QB ENERGY OPERATING LLC | 4 | 5.0% |
| 10 | PETROLEUM RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CORP | 2 | 2.5% |
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
19
NIOBRARA
100.0%
Major Basins in Colorado
Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin
View Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin rig count →Piceance Basin
View Piceance Basin rig count →Data Source
Data Coverage
1898-01-01 to 2026-08-17
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": 124352,
"last_30_days": 80,
"last_365_days": 1460,
"year_over_year_change": "-7.8%",
"top_operators": [
{
"name": "DUNAMIS ENERGY OPERATING LLC",
"permits": 18,
"pct_share": "22.5%"
},
{
"name": "BISON IV OPERATING LLC",
"permits": 11,
"pct_share": "13.8%"
},
{
"name": "KERR MCGEE OIL & GAS ONSHORE LP",
"permits": 10,
"pct_share": "12.5%"
}
]
},
"meta": {
"source": "Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC)",
"data_as_of": "2026-08-17",
"source_checked_at": null,
"configured_check_cadence": "daily"
}
}Colorado Drilling Permit FAQs
Colorado has 124,352 historical drilling permits in the returned dataset, with 80 records in its latest 30-day calculation. The latest returned permit date is August 17, 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: DUNAMIS ENERGY OPERATING LLC (22.5%), BISON IV OPERATING LLC (13.8%), KERR MCGEE OIL & GAS ONSHORE LP (12.5%).
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 →