In an Oct. 6 Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) hearing, commissioners decided to move forward with an investigation into CWC Petro’s failure to comply with a previous commission order and pay $16,041.02 in royalties and $844.65 in interest owed to Arvada residents David and Paula Wingfield.

The commission voted to launch an investigation into CWC Petro after the Arvada-based company allegedly failed to comply with a previous order and pay mineral rights owners royalties for extracting on their land.

The unpaid royalties stem from four wells located in Yuma County. According to a complaint report obtained via a Colorado Open Records Act request, the Wingfield’s have not received royalty payments since July of 2019.

In the July 2021 hearing that resulted in Final Order #1-250, the commission noted that despite several attempts by the Wingfield’s to contact CWC Petro to resolve the outstanding payments, the company had not replied. In an initial complaint filed in April of 2020, David Wingfield stated that he had “called [CWC Petro’s] number with no response and left voicemails also with no response.”

David Wingfield filed a second complaint in September of 2021, claiming that CWC Petro had been given all required notices, but had not responded or paid in over 20 days, in violation of the commission’s previous order.

Commissioner Priya Nanjappa called for an investigation after CWC Petro failed to comply with the order.

“We often hear that one of the many benefits of oil and gas development is the royalties that the mineral rights owners receive,” she said.

Nanjappa noted that CWC Petro had not complied with a previous commission order and that “they still have not paid.”

While the COGCC’s jurisdiction to order payment is limited, the commission “can order a payment be made only to one who is ‘legally entitled’ to payment.” The COGCC found that the Wingfield’s had submitted the proper documentation and were entitled to royalty payments from CWC Petro.

Commissioner Nanjappa said that the COGCC does not “have the ability to garnish bank accounts or pursue [CWC Petro] further” but “that [the Wingfield’s] have at least been informed that they can take up the matter directly with the Denver District Court.”

The exact remedial measures the commission will take are not known at this time, but several commissioners made clear that they are seeking accountability on behalf of the oil and gas operators and payment to mineral rights owners.

Commissioner Guillermo Gonzalez III supported the investigation.

“This is more than just enforcing the enforcement that we’ve ordered. It’s really to hold the operator to account for the violation of our order,” he said.

COGCC Director Julie Murphy was instructed to begin an investigation into the violation and failure to pay royalties and will present her findings to the commission in a later hearing.