Piceance Basin Formation in Colorado: Operators, Permits & Activity 2026

Name: Piceance Basin Formation – Colorado Oil & Gas Activity
Creator: Buckhead Energy
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Total Wells

4,432

Active Operators

394

Total Lateral

222 miles

Permits (24mo)

138

Top Operators in the Piceance Basin (Colorado)

The operators with the most well counts targeting the Piceance Basin formation in Colorado:

#	Operator	Wells in Piceance Basin
1	Scout Energy Management	1,162
2	Tep Rocky Mountain	212
3	Qb Energy Operating LLC	191
4	Laramie Energy	160
5	Twin Arrow	158
6	Vision Energy Group	119
7	Sg Interests I	116
8	Fram Operating	90
9	Chevron	73
10	Diamond Back Drilling & Supply	72

Primary Colorado Counties for the Piceance Basin

The Colorado counties with the most Piceance Basin activity:

Rio Blanco, Mesa, Garfield, Gunnison, Delta

Recent Piceance Basin Drilling Permits in Colorado

The most recent 13 drilling permits filed for Piceance Basin wells in Colorado:

Permit Date	Well	API	County	Operator	Lateral (ft)
2026-02-18	Bhr Fed 0397-22-15-2 Nh	`05103122950000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	8,758
2026-02-18	Bhr Fed 0397-22-15-3 Nh	`05103127600000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	9,335
2026-02-18	Bhr Fed 0397-22-35-13nh	`05103127640000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	9,309
2026-02-18	Bhr Fed 0397-22-34-14nh	`05103127610000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	9,282
2026-02-18	Bhr Fed 0397-22-34-16nh	`05103127630000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	9,118
2026-02-18	Bhr Fed 0397-22-34-15nh	`05103127620000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	9,099
2025-04-18	Mohee Fed 0297-17 29-15nh	`05103127090000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	12,314
2025-04-18	Mohee Fed 0297-17 29-15wnh	`05103127100000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	12,328
2025-04-18	Mohee Fed 0297-17 29-16nh	`05103127070000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	12,311
2025-04-18	Mohee Fed 0297-17 8-2nh	`05103127140000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	—
2025-04-18	Mohee Fed 0297-17 17-8-3nh	`05103127130000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	7,206
2025-04-18	Mohee Fed 0297-17 29-16wnh	`05103127080000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	12,308
2025-04-18	Mohee Fed 0297-17 8-1nh	`05103127120000`	Rio Blanco	Anschutz Exploration	7,029

Piceance Basin DUCs (Drilled, Uncompleted Wells) in Colorado

Wells targeting the Piceance Basin that have been spudded but are waiting on completion — near-term production upside:

Spud Date	Days Waiting	Well	Operator	County	Lateral (ft)
2026-07-31	22	Federal Rgu 44-6-297	Tep Rocky Mountain	Rio Blanco	412
2026-07-31	22	Rnpu H28 Fed 23d-28 197	Qb Energy Operating LLC	Rio Blanco	119
2026-07-24	29	Federal Rgu 41-7-297	Tep Rocky Mountain	Rio Blanco	808
2026-05-29	85	Skr 698-10bv-770	Chevron	Garfield	—
2026-05-15	99	Skr 698-10bv-755	Chevron	Garfield	10,173

About the Piceance Basin Formation in Colorado

The Piceance Basin is one of Colorado's active oil and gas plays, with 4,432 wells on file across 394 distinct operators of record. Operators have filed 138 drilling permits targeting the Piceance Basin in the last 24 months — a measure of how active the play is right now versus its historical baseline.

For mineral owners with interests in Rio Blanco, Mesa, Garfield, Gunnison, Delta, knowing whether your tract sits within an active Piceance Basin footprint is a foundational valuation question. Active formations with consistent permit flow command premium pricing; legacy formations with steady but declining production are valued differently.

See all Colorado oil & gas formations & plays · Download the Colorado formations dataset (CSV)

Frequently Asked Questions

How many wells target the Piceance Basin formation in Colorado?

4,432 wells target the Piceance Basin in Colorado, worked by 394 active operators, per ECMC well-header records (as of 2026-08-23).

Who are the top operators in the Piceance Basin in Colorado?

By well count, the most active Piceance Basin operators in Colorado are Scout Energy Management, Tep Rocky Mountain, Qb Energy Operating LLC, Laramie Energy and Twin Arrow. The full ranking is in the table on this page.

How active is the Piceance Basin formation right now?

Operators filed 138 drilling permits targeting the Piceance Basin in the last 24 months, and there are 5 drilled-but-uncompleted (DUC) wells awaiting completion — a live measure of current activity, per ECMC records.

Is there active drilling in the Piceance Basin in Colorado?

Operators filed 138 new drilling permits targeting the Piceance Basin in Colorado over the last 24 months, with 5 drilled-but-uncompleted (DUC) wells awaiting completion. New permits and spuds are the clearest signal of active Piceance Basin drilling, per ECMC records (as of 2026-08-23).

What is the current Piceance Basin activity in Colorado?

Piceance Basin activity in Colorado currently spans 4,432 wells on record and 394 active operators, led by Scout Energy Management, Tep Rocky Mountain, Qb Energy Operating LLC, Laramie Energy and Twin Arrow, with 138 drilling permits filed in the last 24 months — refreshed monthly from Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) well-header records (as of 2026-08-23).

Which Colorado counties have the most Piceance Basin activity?

The most active Piceance Basin counties in Colorado are Rio Blanco, Mesa, Garfield, Gunnison, Delta.

How do I find out what my Piceance Basin mineral rights are worth?

Value depends on your net mineral acres or royalty decimal, the operator, the remaining drilling locations, and current oil and gas prices. Buckhead Energy checks your tract against current Piceance Basin well and permit data and puts a free, no-obligation written offer in writing — this page is informational only, not a valuation.

Cite this dataset

Permanently archived and citable via a DOI on Zenodo (CERN), under a CC BY 4.0 license. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21442884 · View on Zenodo

Citation (plain text)

Buckhead Energy (2026). U.S. Oil & Gas Reference & Drilling-Activity Data: Helium by Field, State Severance Tax & Deduction Rules, and Operator/County Activity (Version 2.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21442884

BibTeX (machine-readable)

@dataset{buckheadEnergy2026_10528121442884,
  author    = {{Buckhead Energy}},
  title     = {{U.S. Oil & Gas Reference & Drilling-Activity Data: Helium by Field, State Severance Tax & Deduction Rules, and Operator/County Activity}},
  year      = {2026},
  version   = {2.0.0},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.21442884},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21442884}
}

License & attribution: This data is licensed CC BY 4.0. You are free to share and adapt it, including commercially, provided you credit “Buckhead Energy” and link back to this page or the DOI above.