08-21-26 Interview - Erie Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell - Erie Had A Mineral Deal, Until Citizens Said Wait

ERIE HAD A MINERAL DEAL. UNTIL THE CITIZENS SAID WAIT. For two years the town of Erie has been working to create a mineral deal with SM Energy, who have what is called the Draco pad. The Draco pad sits next to the town of Erie and SM Energy wanted to buy several plots of mineral rights that run under the town so they could use horizontal drilling to extract the oil and gas there. For two years they negotiated a deal that would have been very lucrative for Erie and it seemed a couple of weeks ago they had it. Here is what is in the deal:

Cash & Revenue: $4.5 million upfront plus 3% production royalties over the life of the project (estimated over $21 million total).
Land Transfers: Three parcels totaling roughly 160 acres along County Line Road transferred to the town.
Well Mitigation: SM Energy agrees to plug and abandon 17 additional old or orphaned wells.
Site Access: Town staff receive rights to perform routine safety inspections on the Draco well pad.
Legal Context: Under Colorado law (SB 24-185), developers cannot force-pool municipal mineral rights, giving Erie leverage—which the council ultimately chose to trade for financial and land compensation rather than forcing the developer to route around town-owned strata.

But not so fast. SM Energy has cancelled the deal after the citizens of Erie decided to put it on the ballot. I’ve got Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell on to talk about it at 1.

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