Oil and gas association chief Tisha Schuller stepping down

The head of Colorado’s influential trade group the Colorado Oil and Gas Association announced Monday she’ll step down. President and CEO Tisha Schuller said she will leave COGA at the end of May. While she originally signed up for three years, Schuller said she committed to two more when tensions between the industry and communities heated up along Colorado’s Front Range.

“We’ve seen a real transformation in the last five years both from the expectations from communities in terms of what their role is in the development process, also from the oil and gas industry really understanding that we’re going to have to engage in a really different way,” said Schuller on Monday.

An oil and gas task force tasked with improving relations between local governments and the industry  recently submitted nine recommendations to Gov. John Hickenlooper for review. The state and lawmakers are currently reviewing which will require approval from the state legislature, and which the state will pursue through rulemaking with the state regulatory body, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.