A brief discussion at Erie’s Dec. 16 Town Council meeting revealed what had previously been kept behind closed doors: Civitas Resources has made an offer to buy Erie’s mineral rights. This revelation immediately raised concerns about transparency and the town’s direction on oil and gas issues.
The comment surfaced as Mayor Andrew Moore introduced a contract with Alameda Mineral Advisors to assess the value of the town’s mineral holdings. Moore described the consulting work as a step to better understand the town’s assets. The explanation, however, included a significant detail.
“This will give us information on what those are worth,” Moore said from the dais. “Civitas has given us an offer, we’re not sure that offer is market-competitive. If nothing else, this will give us that information. This does not approve anything, it doesn’t spend any money, it simply gives us information. Then we can go back and ask the question, ‘Is there enough here? Is this worth it?’”
That statement marked the first time the public learned that Civitas — operator of the widely opposed Draco Pad oil and gas project — had approached the town about purchasing its mineral rights. The matter had previously been discussed only in Executive Session.
Councilmember Dan Hoback said the lack of public discussion is central to the concern.
“All of the details, all of the pros and cons, are happening behind closed doors,” Hoback said. “If this makes it to a council vote, that will be the first the public is hearing of it.”
The announcement also landed in a charged political climate. Residents have long and vocally opposed expanding oil and gas activity, especially around the Draco Pad. Sustainability consistently ranks as one of the community’s top priorities, Hoback noted.
“In our survey, people ranked sustainability as a number one issue they want to focus on, and we’re going against that,” he said.
A potential sale of the town’s mineral rights could carry consequences for nearby property owners. Under Colorado law, a sale could enable pooling, a practice that allows an operator to combine adjacent mineral interests into a single unit for development.
“One consequence is that if the deal goes through, Civitas could do something called pooling, where surrounding mineral rights are turned over to them and lumped together, which takes that choice away from residents,” Hoback said.
He added that timing may also be a factor.
“Mayor Moore is under a time crunch because Civitas Resources just got bought by SM Energy, which means that there’s limited time for Draco to drill and limited time to close a deal,” Hoback said.
For many residents already skeptical of oil and gas activity, the thought of a fast-moving, privately negotiated deal could deepen that skepticism.
“Given how opposed people were to Draco,” Hoback said, “this will definitely lead to a concerning lack of trust from the residents.”
His assessment of the situation was blunt: “We’re dancing with the devil.”