Powering Colorado

This report was prepared with the support of OFRA AI tools.

COLORADO’S ROLE IN AMERICA’S ENERGY COMEBACK

Colorado sits at the center of one of America's most productive onshore energy systems. In 2025, the state produced 170.5 million barrels of crude oil and 1.87 trillion cubic feet of marketed natural gas (U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA], 2026a; EIA, 2026b), accounting for about 3–4% of U.S. crude oil output and a similar single-digit share of national marketed natural gas production (EIA, 2025; EIA, 2026c). Production from the Denver-Julesburg Basin helps supply energy to homes, businesses, manufacturers, and farms across the region while generating significant revenues for Colorado communities.

• Energy development returns value to taxpayers: In FY2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) distributed $90.77 million in federal energy and mineral revenues to Colorado, part of $14.61 billion disbursed nationwide (U.S. Department of the Interior [DOI], 2025b).
• Reliable production supports regional energy needs: Colorado oil and natural gas help provide winter heating, dispatchable electricity, irrigation, food processing, transportation fuels, and industrial energy across the plains.
• Energy production strengthens local communities: State and local revenues help fund roads, public safety, schools, conservation, and other county services in energy-producing communities.

170.5M Barrels of Colorado crude oil produced in 2025

1.87T Cubic feet of marketed natural gas produced in 2025

$90.77M Federal mineral revenues disbursed to Colorado in FY2025

$7.9B Economic output from BLM-managed lands in Colorado in FY2024

WHY IT MATTERS FOR EASTERN COLORADO

Much of Colorado’s energy production is concentrated in Weld County, which accounts for 83% of Colorado crude oil production and 56% of Colorado natural gas production (Weld County Oil and Gas Energy Department, n.d.). That production supports a broad regional economy where energy development, agriculture, ranching, manufacturing, and outdoor recreation often depend on the same working lands. The benefits extend well beyond the well pad, supporting workers, local businesses, and public services throughout eastern Colorado.

• Family income and skilled trades: The Denver-Julesburg Basin supports mechanics, CDL drivers, electricians, surveyors, welders, restaurants, suppliers, and other businesses throughout the regional supply chain.
• Agriculture and ranching: The Interior Department has proposed updates to grazing rules that would give ranchers more flexibility to respond to changing land conditions while maintaining healthy rangelands (DOI, 2026b).
• Manufacturing and industry: Colorado natural gas and other natural gas liquids such as propane support manufacturing, transportation, food processing, and other industrial activity throughout the region.
• Outdoor recreation and conservation: Recent federal actions seek to improve access to public lands and streamline recreation permitting. These policies can help sustain guides, sporting-goods stores, outfitters, hotels, cafés, and other businesses that serve hunters, anglers, birders, and visitors (DOI, 2026d; Outdoor Industry Association, n.d.).

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ENERGY ACTIONS

The Trump Administration has moved federal energy policy in a more pro-production direction (DOI, 2025a; Council on Environmental Quality, 2026). Executive Order 14154 directed federal agencies to review rules and policies that burden domestic energy development. Executive Order 14156 declared a national energy emergency and directed agencies to use lawful authorities to support the leasing, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources (Executive Office of the President, 2025a; Executive Office of the President, 2025b).

For Colorado, several actions are especially relevant:

• More access to federal energy resources. In June 2026, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) opened initial public review on 114 Colorado oil and gas parcels totaling 126,744 acres that may be included in a December 2026 lease sale. Regular lease sales help keep the pipeline of future energy production moving (BLM, 2026a).
• Less unnecessary red tape. Interior has proposed updates to federal oil and gas leasing and waste-prevention rules. Interior estimates the waste-prevention changes would reduce compliance costs by nearly $17 million annually while keeping Colorado safe and clean (DOI, 2026a).
• A return to multiple-use land management. Effective June 2026, BLM finalized a rule rescinding the Biden Administration's 2024 Conservation and Landscape Health Rule. BLM described the rescission as restoring balance among energy production, grazing, recreation, conservation, and other lawful uses of public lands (BLM, 2026b).

PUBLIC LANDS, SPORTSMEN, AND CONSERVATION

The Trump Administration’s energy agenda reflects a commitment to multiple-use management of Colorado’s public lands.

• In FY2024, BLM-managed lands in Colorado generated an estimated $7.9 billion in total economic activity and supported 33,237 jobs.
  • Oil and gas accounted for approximately $4.2 billion in economic output, whereas recreation accounted for roughly $2.0 billion.
  • Moreover, BLM oversees grazing on about 7.8 million acres across 2,400 allotments used by more than 1,000 ranching operations (BLM, 2025).
• The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that Colorado’s outdoor recreation economy supported approximately 137,800 jobs and generated $18.1 billion in value added in 2024 (BEA, 2026).
• Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) materials report that hunting and fishing contribute more than $3.25 billion to Colorado’s economy each year and support more than 25,000 jobs (CPW, 2026).

Regarding conservation, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum’s sportsmen’s agenda centers on access and state-federal cooperation.

• In May 2026, Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed the largest hunting and sport-fishing expansion in agency history: more than 1,450 new or expanded opportunities across 111 stations in 32 states, while keeping more than 92 million acres of the National Wildlife Refuge System available for hunting where compatible with refuge purposes and applicable law (DOI, 2026c; FWS, 2026).

CONCLUSION

Colorado’s energy resources remain an important source of economic opportunity for the state and the Nation. Oil and natural gas production, responsible management of public lands, outdoor recreation, agriculture, and conservation are complementary uses of the same landscape.

Recent federal actions seek to expand responsible energy production, restore multiple-use land management, and improve access to public lands for ranchers, sportsmen, and outdoor recreation. Together, these policies strengthen Colorado's economy, support high-quality jobs, generate public revenues, and help ensure that Colorado continues to play a leading role in America’s energy future.