Tough Times Never Last, Tough People Do.

The following are comments made by Dan Haley, President and CEO of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, at this year’s 36th COGA Annual Meeting, which was held virtually on November 12, 2020.

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​Thirty years ago, as a young sports reporter, I visited the office of an embattled basketball coach. As I interviewed him, I noticed a framed quote hanging on the wall over his shoulder. It has stayed with me through all of these years. It read:

"Tough times never last, tough people do."

Our industry understands this sentiment all too well.

Our industry has been through tough times before, and we always emerge stronger.

​Our country has weathered tough times, too, and I never underestimate the goodwill, power and ingenuity of America -- just as I never underestimate the ingenuity of the men and women who make up this industry.

​Since this pandemic began, oil and natural gas workers have continued to head to work across our state as part of the critical infrastructure needed to power our homes and our lives, and to keep Coloradans safe.
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Workers in the DJ and Piceance and across Colorado have literally kept the lights on at home. They have fueled the long-haul trucks that brought essential supplies to grocery stores, and powered our hospitals.

On behalf of my fellow Coloradans, thank you!

When so much is uncertain, it’s comforting to know we have energy security, thanks to our Colorado oil and natural gas companies.

And as our economy rebounds, oil and gas will be an essential part of that climb. Our industry will power the recovery and you will be called on to meet the global demand for oil and natural gas over the long haul.
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We will be ready. We must be ready.

Ours is an industry of geologists, engineers, scientists, and software developers, as well as truck drivers, roustabouts, steel toes, and rig hands. We are an industry of environmentalists, working hard every day to protect our air, water, and land. We reflect the makeup of this great state, the people who call Colorado home.

And we are well-positioned to meet the long-term, global needs for affordable, efficient and cleaner oil and natural gas.

Regardless of the rhetoric you may hear, the world will need YOU to produce oil and gas for years to come.

​And it should come from Colorado.

If you care about the environment, you want oil and natural gas to be produced locally, right here at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.

​We call it the Colorado Molecule, and we’ve been able to show that the oil and natural gas molecules produced here are among the cleanest in the world.

​Under Colorado’s rigorous regulatory framework and environmental rules that are widely seen as the gold standard, your companies aren’t just utilizing -- but are actually pioneering -- state-of-the-art technology and innovation to decrease emissions, reduce leaks, limit venting and flaring, and disturb less land. The end result is abundant, efficient and affordable energy sourced and produced locally in one of the safest and most environmentally sound manners anywhere.

We need to ensure that our elected leaders understand that policies that intentionally limit local development and local supply will do nothing but increase imports, and that will increase greenhouse gas emissions and increase costs for our most vulnerable neighbors. 

We also need to continue to remind our fellow Coloradans that we value what they value

We value clean air and clean water. We value a stable business environment. We value safety, healthy families, and a strong economy. We value strong schools and an educated workforce. We also value our communities and a state we call home.

We need to continue to build new partnerships. And as Colorado changes, we must find ways to adapt to those changes. Our workforce should reflect our state.

And as we look ahead to what we can only expect, at this point, to be new federal policies to come, we can take some comfort in knowing that we are ahead of the curve in Colorado in terms of regulations and technology and innovation happening out in the field. You are trailblazers.

We also can have confidence that we have the right industry thought leaders in place to make good decisions for industry and for Colorado.

As we look ahead to the new year, and the economic recovery that lies on the approaching horizon, we must prepare ourselves. We must be ready for the opportunity it presents us. Our work is just beginning and I’m excited to see where it takes us.

At COGA, we will stand with you and we will continue to stand up for you -- the remarkable men and women that produce the energy and products that billions of people use throughout the world. You provide the critical lifeblood of modern society. In these strange times you may not always feel your significance, but it’s important to know the world does not function without you.

Together, we are committed to a prosperous future, we are committed to a clean and healthy future, we are committed to our neighbors and our communities, and we are committed to Colorado.
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Believe in the unending possibilities of what our industry can do, for our state, for our country, and for our future.

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