Drill Baby Drill

The BLM gives go-ahead to the Whitewater oil drilling project.

I suggested last week that the oil and gas boom may be back in western Colorado. The $26 million Vanguard investment in the Piceance Basin certainly lends support to the idea. Now there's the news that the Bureau of Land Managment has given its approval of the Whitewater drilling project. The boom may not be back just yet but it appears to be coming soon.

The Whitewater project that been in the works since 2011. Oil drilling rigs won't be punching holes in the ground to the southwest of Grand Junction in the next few days, weeks, or even months but the project is one big step closer to reality.

The BLM approved the plan that includes more than 100 sites. Those wells are expected to yield around 9 million barrels of oil over the next 20 years producing about 70 local jobs The state would get a boost too of 50% of the revenues estimated at almost $30 million over the life of the project. Drill baby, drill indeed.

Credit: KJCT8