The process will now move to the public review and hearing stage, the deadline to file a petition is 27th September 2021.
In the absence of any petition(s), this matter will be heard by the COGCC on 27th October 2021. Subject to the application being approved at the hearing, Blue Star must submit the final permit to drill (Form 2) and understands that it is typically received within 30 days of submission.
In the event of an uncontested application, the COGCC may elect to approve the application without a formal hearing. Blue Star expects to receive the final permit to drill its Enterprise 16#1 well during Q4 2021.
Blue Star has achieved the feat of becoming the first helium operator in Colorado to pass completeness on any OGDP application since the January rule changes.
Enterprise 16#1, an exploration well planned for Las Animas County, Colorado, is also the first drilling application to achieve this across the county and just the sixth across the entire state.
Trent Spry, Managing Director and CEO of Blue Star, said: “While we have been frustrated with the elongated OGDP process through 2021, we fully appreciate the environment of uncertainty and challenge that the COGCC has had to navigate through this period.”
“We are therefore very pleased to have now passed completeness review on our Enterprise 16#1 application, particularly given so few drilling applications across the entirety of Colorado have achieved that since early this year.”
“We now look forward to undertaking the remainder of the approval process and, in the targeted event of an uncontested application, receiving the final drill permit for Enterprise 16#1 during mid-to-late November, if not potentially before. We expect to achieve completeness on future applications in a much shorter time frame because we now have a form of application that meets COGCC’s expectations.”