Largest Oil & Gas Operators in Colorado 2026 — Top 100 by Wells Operated

Name: Top Colorado Oil & Gas Operators Leaderboard
Creator: Buckhead Energy
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Operators Ranked

100

Combined Wells

91,408

Recent Permits (24mo)

1,413

Combined DUCs

8,183

#	Operator	Wells	Permits 24mo	DUCs	Producing	Top Formation	Top County
1	Noble Energy	10,460	160	212	8,301	Muddy J Sand	Weld
2	Kerrmcgee	9,786	289	123	8,818	Muddy J Sand	Weld
3	Tep Rocky Mountain	9,042	64	141	7,317	Mesaverde	Garfield
4	Pdc Energy	8,530	157	277	6,739	Muddy J Sand	Weld
5	Qb Energy Operating LLC	6,118	47	166	5,200	Mesaverde	Garfield
6	Own Resources Operating	3,445	0	50	3,395	Niobrara East	Yuma
7	Evergreen Natural Resources LLC	2,504	0	52	2,436	Pierre -Niobrara	Las Animas
8	Crestone Peak Resources Operating	2,416	83	50	2,182	Muddy J Sand	Weld
9	Laramie Energy	2,260	22	44	1,671	Mesaverde	Mesa
10	Simcoe LLC	1,701	3	161	1,426	Dakota	La Plata
11	Extraction Oil & Gas	1,636	28	89	1,303	Muddy J Sand	Weld
12	K P Kauffman Company	1,580	0	14	1,432	Muddy J Sand	Weld
13	Encana Oil & Gas	1,342	0	96	64	Mesaverde	Garfield
14	Scout Energy Management	1,231	0	26	957	Piceance Basin	Rio Blanco
15	Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Company	1,210	40	30	947	Muddy J Sand	Weld
16	Bison Iv Operating LLC	1,206	202	56	661	Muddy J Sand	Weld
17	Highpoint Operating	1,092	0	66	528	Muddy J Sand	Weld
18	Red Willow Production Company	1,031	9	126	760	Mesaverde_	La Plata
19	Verdad Resources	777	81	36	521	Muddy J Sand	Weld
20	Anadarko Petroleum	771	0	387	145	Las Animas Arch	Cheyenne
21	Utah Gas Op LTD Dba Utah Gas	752	0	26	717	Mancos-Dakota	Rio Blanco
22	Prairie Operating CO LLC	697	40	26	480	Muddy J Sand	Weld
23	Hilcorp Energy Company	633	8	23	556	Dakota	La Plata
24	Fundare Resources Operating Company LLC	623	11	35	400	Muddy J Sand	Weld
25	Dunamis Energy Operating LLC	559	75	14	426	Muddy J Sand	Weld
26	Amoco Production Company	539	0	270	93	Muddy J Sand	Weld
27	Ogris Operating LLC	536	0	21	510	Pierre -Niobrara	Las Animas
28	Mull Drilling Company	535	1	291	216	Las Animas Arch	Cheyenne
29	Berry Petroleum Company	532	0	26	5	Mesaverde	Garfield
30	Chevron	523	2	37	298	Mesaverde	Garfield
31	Oxy	506	2	50	72	Mesaverde	Garfield
32	Omimex Petroleum	497	0	37	358	Niobrara East	Yuma
33	Padco	451	0	392	37	D Sand	Washington
34	Caerus Piceance	437	0	26	56	Mesaverde	Garfield
35	Snyder Oil Company	428	0	32	22	Muddy J Sand	Weld
36	Locin Oil	386	0	6	369	Mancos-Dakota	Rio Blanco
37	Whiting Petroleum CORP	385	0	7	6	Muddy J Sand	Weld
38	Conocophillips Company	369	0	74	49	Mancos-Dakota	Rio Blanco
39	Civitas North LLC	357	0	11	15	Muddy J Sand	Weld
40	British American Oil Production Company	348	0	296	40	D Sand	Logan
41	Tiger Oil Company	344	0	286	6	D Sand	Adams
42	Shell Oil Company	341	0	269	6	D Sand	Logan
43	J W Operating Company	314	0	193	32	Niobrara East	Yuma
44	Bayswater Exploration And Production	308	0	15	151	Muddy J Sand	Weld
45	Pioneer Natural Resources	306	0	5	14	Pierre -Niobrara	Las Animas
46	Wexpro Company	302	0	5	220	Mesaverde-Lance-Lewis	Moffat
47	Allison Drilling Company	299	0	281	10	D Sand	Washington
48	Petrocanada Resources	293	0	87	97	Muddy J Sand	Weld
49	Gerrity Oil & Gas	283	0	16	35	Muddy J Sand	Weld
50	Plains Exploration & Production Company	267	0	244	11	D Sand	Washington
51	Hs Resources	258	0	40	95	Muddy J Sand	Weld
52	Longs Peak Resources	257	0	1	5	Muddy J Sand	Weld
53	8 North	257	0	3	46	Muddy J Sand	Weld
54	Citation Oil & Gas	253	0	9	242	Las Animas Arch	Cheyenne
55	Edge Energy Ii	250	0	1	0	Muddy J Sand	Weld
56	Exeter Drilling Company	242	0	227	0	D Sand	Washington
57	Kinder Morgan Co2 CO LLC	241	0	52	153	Paradox Basin	Montezuma
58	Pcr Operating	240	0	56	150	D Sand	Morgan
59	Smith Energy	240	0	0	240	D Sand	Washington
60	Wiepkingfullerton Energy	239	0	59	91	Muddy J Sand	Lincoln
61	Toltek Drilling Company	236	0	216	2	D Sand	Logan
62	Rosewood Resources	235	0	21	29	Niobrara East	Yuma
63	Petroleum	234	0	205	11	D Sand	Washington
64	Eog Resources	232	0	23	17	Muddy J Sand	Weld
65	Murfin Drilling	227	0	138	72	Las Animas Arch	Cheyenne
66	Axis Exploration	224	0	5	44	Muddy J Sand	Arapahoe
67	Energy Minerals	221	0	108	71	Muddy J Sand	Weld
68	Chandler & Associates	215	0	82	17	Mancos-Dakota	Rio Blanco
69	Painted Pegasus Petroleum Dba P3 Petroleum	214	0	0	214	Muddy J Sand	Adams
70	Wme Yates LLC	213	0	4	208	Niobrara East	Phillips
71	Colorado Interstate Gas Company	212	6	160	38	D Sand	Baca
72	Davis Oil Company	211	0	185	2	D Sand	Washington
73	Catamount Energy Partners	210	2	95	44	San Juan Basin	La Plata
74	Great Western Operating Company	210	0	33	14	Muddy J Sand	Weld
75	Kimbark Oil & Gas Company	209	0	204	2	D Sand	Washington
76	Logos Operating	207	9	1	194	Mesaverde_	La Plata
77	Renegade Oil & Gas Company	206	0	8	194	Muddy J Sand	Adams
78	Impetro Resources	201	0	0	199	D Sand	Washington
79	Champlin Petroleum Company	199	0	144	18	D Sand	Cheyenne
80	Skaer Enterprises	195	0	108	83	D Sand	Washington
81	High River Resources Operating LLC	190	0	0	188	Pierre -Niobrara	Las Animas
82	Bpx Operating Company	181	0	14	60	Mesaverde_	La Plata
83	Magpie Operating	181	0	2	166	Muddy J Sand	Larimer
84	Stuarco Oil	179	0	172	1	D Sand	Washington
85	Patina Oil & Gas	179	0	7	129	Muddy J Sand	Weld
86	Txo Production	179	0	122	17	Las Animas Arch	Cheyenne
87	Vision Energy Group	173	0	10	141	Piceance Basin	Mesa
88	Southwestern Energy Production Company	170	0	18	45	Hilliardbaxtermancos-Niobrara	Moffat
89	Enduring Resources	168	0	1	150	Dakota	La Plata
90	Foundation Energy Management	165	0	5	147	Niobrara East	Yuma
91	Twin Arrow	165	0	17	59	Piceance Basin	Rio Blanco
92	American Helium LLC	162	0	9	151	Paradox Basin	San Miguel
93	Abundance Energy Services LLC	162	0	4	157	Mesaverde_	La Plata
94	Xto Energy	160	0	7	10	Mesaverde	Rio Blanco
95	Strachan Exploration	157	0	9	136	Las Animas Arch	Weld
96	Vessels Oil & Gas Company	154	0	49	50	Muddy J Sand	Adams
97	Gmt Exploration Company	154	72	16	15	Muddy J Sand	Elbert
98	Sundance Oil Company	152	0	145	2	D Sand	Adams
99	Western Operating Company	152	0	36	114	D Sand	Washington
100	Samson Resources Company	149	0	49	44	Anadarko Basin	La Plata

About This Leaderboard

Source: Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission well-header records.

Ranking: Operators ranked by total well count under their current operator-of-record. Recent permits cover the last 24 months; DUC count is wells spudded but not yet producing; producing-well count is wells with a first-production date on file.

Why it matters: Knowing who operates the most wells in Colorado — and who's drilling the most NOW — helps mineral owners understand who they're dealing with at the lease level.

Refresh cadence: Monthly. Data current as of 2026-08-01.

Download: CSV · JSON — free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the biggest oil company in Colorado?

By wells operated, Noble Energy is the largest oil and gas operator in Colorado, with 10,460 wells on record per Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) data. Note that "biggest" by revenue or market capitalization can rank differently — this measures operated well count.

What are the top 10 oil companies in Colorado by wells operated?

The top 10 operators by operated well count are: Noble Energy, Kerrmcgee, Tep Rocky Mountain, Pdc Energy, Qb Energy Operating LLC, Own Resources Operating, Evergreen Natural Resources LLC, Crestone Peak Resources Operating, Laramie Energy, Simcoe LLC. The full top-100 ranking with permits, DUC inventory, and producing-well counts is in the leaderboard below.

Who operates the most oil and gas wells in Colorado?

Noble Energy operates the most wells in Colorado at 10,460, with 160 permits filed in the last 24 months, per ECMC well-header records.

How many oil and gas operators are ranked here?

This leaderboard ranks the top 100 operators active in Colorado by total well count. Many more file with the regulator; these are the largest by operated wells.

Is this ranking by revenue or by wells operated?

By wells operated — the count of wells under each company's current operator-of-record designation in Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) records. It is not a revenue, production-volume, or market-capitalization ranking.

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