Colorado Oil And Gas Drilling Spills Jumped 17 Percent Last Year

(photo: courtesy of the artist)

Drilling activity doubled as the price of oil jumped last year. Along with that, there were 88 more spills of oil or water from drilling sites in Colorado last year compared to the previous year -- a 17 percent increase,  the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission reports.

The total number of spills last year was 616. As the chart shows, since 1999 the least number of spills in Colorado took place in 2002, with 193. The most, 792, came in 2014. 

Anadarko had the highest number of spills last year, with 97. Noble was No. 2 with 80. Anadarko and Chevron both had spills that lost tens of thousands of gallons, many through routine breaks in flowlines and tank batteries.