McWhinney files letter of intent for Loveland oil and gas drilling

LOVELAND — McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc. subsidiary MRG LLC intends to construct multiple well pads for oil and gas development. According to a letter of intent sent to Loveland officials, plans are in place for two multiple well pads in east Loveland.

The letters of intent were submitted after MRG completed the city’s development review process. The letters signal that further plans for the sites will be submitted as the process gets underway.

If approved, construction on the two sites could begin as soon as January 2023, with drilling planned that February. Oil and gas production could start in September of 2023.

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Plans for the two drilling sites on land owned by the McWhinneys were announced in January. The two sites are both located near the Centerra neighborhood in east Loveland.

The two sites do not have formal addresses. The eastern of the two pads is intended to be near a city power substation adjacent to Larimer County Road 3, east of the Centerra shopping center.

According to documents submitted to the city March 23, the two sites are intended to host between 11 and 18 wells per pad, in order to reduce surface impacts.

The southern pad is listed as between Interstate 25 and Boyd Lake Avenue along Larimer County Road 20E, south of U.S. Highway 34. The documents list the highway, known as Eisenhower Boulevard in town, as Highway 30.

The review process for the letters of intent includes requirements for a noise mitigation study, distance setbacks and buffer yards. Documents available on the city website also indicate a need for a traffic impact study.

If the plans are submitted, they would be the first oil and gas development plans submitted under the city’s new unified development code. Beyond city approval, the plans would also need approval from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. 

The east pad qualifies for a development process under Loveland’s enhanced oil and gas guidelines, which would require a neighborhood meeting before administrative review. The southern pad does not qualify, and would need to be approved by the Loveland Planning Commission after a neighborhood meeting.

The two drilling site plans include proposals to haul waste water up I-25 to the Waste Management Inc. landfill in north Weld county. Equipment would be hauled to the site from Ensign Well Services Inc. in La Salle.