This map depicts the existing oil & gas infrastructure in and around the proposed drilling and spacing unit (DSU) for the Draco Oil and Gas Development Plan (OGPD). The well pad for the proposed 26 wells is several miles east of the DSU, just north of the Crestone Hub at CR 6 and CR 7 in unincorporated Weld County.
Extraction Oil & Gas plans to drill up to 26 wells from the Draco pad, approved by ECMC Commissioners in a March 26, 2025 hearing. After negotiations with the Town of Erie failed to acquire its mineral rights within the original DSU, Extraction is now proposing a smaller footprint for DSU 1 and the incorporation of a previously-approved DSU from the Coyote Trails pad to the south.
That Coyote Trails unit became available after ECMC denied Extraction’s permits to drill more wells there in 2024, ruling that a growing community to the southeast had outgrown the pad’s original approval. Combined, the two units cover roughly 3,390 acres reaching almost 5 miles west into Boulder County, down from an originally approved 3,950 acres. No hearing date has been set.
This map has been created for the Erie Protectors in partnership with EcoCarto, a local mapping consulting firm. Visit their online store to order a high resolution printed 24″ x 36″ poster or PDF of any of these maps, and please contact us if you would like to have us create a similar map for your area.
Notes and Observations
- Once proposed as some of the longest wellbores we’d ever seen, extending over 5 miles well into Boulder County, the newly proposed DSU no longer extends as far into Boulder County as it once did.
- One of the biggest potential risks for drilling at Draco is the potential interaction with existing wells, even if they’re plugged and abandoned, such as what happened in Berthoud in 2018 or in Broomfield in 2019 (see the table below).
- We expect the wellbores to only be perforated/fracked within the spacing unit (outlined in dotted red on the map), thus reducing some of the potential interference with the horizontal wellbores drilled at Pratt and Waste Connections at the proposed Redtail Ranch development just north of Vista Ridge.
- The eastern edge of the spacing unit was previously assigned to the Crestone Acme drilling pad, to have been drilled from a surface location northwest of SH 7 and Bonanza Dr, but ultimately denied by the ECMC (fka COGCC) in 2019.
- After negotiations with the Town of Erie failed to acquire its mineral rights within the original DSU, Extraction is now proposing the incorporation of a previously-approved DSU from the Coyote Trails pad to the south. That Coyote Trails unit became available after ECMC denied Extraction’s permits to drill more wells there in 2024, ruling that a growing community to the southeast had outgrown the pad’s original approval.
Data Sources
- Municipal boundaries and population counts from the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) from the Colorado Information Marketplace.
- Highways, major roads, local roads, farmland, parks, schools, water, and waterways from OpenStreetMap data for Colorado, courtesy of Geofabrik and the OpenStreetMap Foundation.
- Orphaned wells, oil & gas wells, and directional lines from the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC fka COGCC).