From The Colorado Springs Gazette:
Commissioners’ work session will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday, following the board’s regular 9 a.m. meeting. The work session will be in the hearing room of Regional Development Center, 2880 International Circle.
At the El Paso County assessor’s office, the number of mineral rights leases recorded for crude oil and natural gas is nearly twice that of last year. Leasing activity has jumped from 20 in 2008, to 215 in 2009, then 320 in 2010. This year’s tally: 611, with more than three months to go, according to County Assessor Mark Lowderman.
The office recently hired an oil and gas coordinator to handle valuations of the industry. “It’s everywhere out east,” Lowderman said last month of leasing activity. “We’re trying to educate ourselves and quickly get a handle on this because we haven’t dealt with it before.”[…]
Unlike other parts of the state, El Paso County has never had a commercial gas or oil well in production. There have been about 100 exploratory drills here, including two last year, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.