The Energy and Carbon Management Commission voted to approve the Lavender oil-and-gas development plan, proposed by Kerr McGee Oil and Gas Onshore LP (a subsidiary of Oxy USA Inc.), following applicant presentations, questioning and a brief executive session for legal advice.

Kerr McGee's attorney and witnesses described the Lavender pad as a single location within the Town of Mead designed for 22 horizontal wells and one production facility, with two occupations planned to keep the footprint small and to phase production. Planner Alex Ailey told the commission the Town of Mead approved a special‑use permit on Nov. 10 with conditions and that referral agencies had no objections.

Applicant witness Tracy Colling summarized mitigation commitments: no residences or schools within a half‑mile of the pad, enhanced BMPs and ESPs under ECMC rules and AQCC regulation 7, an air‑monitoring plan to be submitted to CDPHE before construction, and a pledge to plug and abandon six existing wells and decommission three facilities within one year of new wells starting production. Colling said the net disturbance after interim reclamation would be about 0.51 acres and that KMG’s NOx intensity for new facilities is substantially below CDPHE thresholds.

Commissioners questioned the company on practicability analyses for powering the drilling rig and for produced‑water takeaway. The applicant said utility infrastructure could not support a grid‑powered rig on this site and therefore committed to a natural‑gas engine with battery‑energy‑storage backup, and argued that constructing a produced‑water pipeline would cause far more disturbance (about 91 acres) than trucking would, given the nearest disposal facility is over 15 miles away.

The commission entered executive session to receive legal advice on docket 250300036. After returning to open session and receiving no further public testimony, Commissioners debated practicability findings and environmental offsets. Commissioner Ackerman said the practicability assessment was sufficient and noted Kerr McGee’s record of relatively low emissions; other commissioners similarly supported approval.

A motion to approve the Lavender OGDP was made and seconded and carried by voice vote; the transcript records the motion and that the motion carried but does not record a roll‑call tally.

What was recorded as conditions or commitments: the applicant’s ESP/BMP commitments during ozone season (and year‑round application of several practices), an air monitoring program to be filed with CDPHE prior to construction, plugging and abandonment commitments for legacy wells, and continued coordination with CPW on biological surveys and nesting protections.

(Reporting note: approvals and procedural actions are described as recorded in the ECMC hearing transcript for Nov. 19, 2025.)