Herald Denver Bureau
"National decline followed prices A chart of drilling rig numbers in Colorado looks a lot like the national numbers. And both charts closely track the price of natural gas. There's a spike in 2008, followed by a steep drop and now a recovery.
Alaska State Sen. Hollis French made the same point when defending his state's oil taxes at a hearing against critics who blamed the industry's decline on high taxes.
“It just happened to start two years ago, when we passed (the oil tax)," said French, a Democrat who is running for governor. “I think we need to be cautious about drawing too many conclusions when we see this kind of drop across the nation."
A similar situation happened in New Mexico, which adopted tougher rules for gas and oil waste pits about the time Colorado was passing its environmental rules.
The state's industry didn't fall until national prices crashed, said Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokeswoman for the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.
“What we've noticed is everything correlates to price. The price of gas peaked in the summer of 2008," Porter said. “Drilling was going nuts."
Pa., La. lead the pack It's going nuts again in Pennsylvania, Louisiana and a few other states." More>>>>
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