Oil and Gas Wells Near Broomfield Homes: A 2026 Buyer's Guide
Are there oil and gas wells near homes in Broomfield?
According to Anthem and Baseline specialist Nick Ahrens, who helps buyers vet homes across Broomfield's 80023, yes: a row of oil and gas wells known as the Livingston pad sits about 1,300 feet from the nearest Anthem Ranch homes, part of a project that put 84 wells on 6 pads in the city. Colorado now requires new wells to sit 2,000 feet from homes, but that rule does not apply to wells permitted before 2020, which is why some existing Broomfield wells are legally much closer. Before you write an offer in 80023, you can check the exact distance, the operator, and the mineral rights yourself in about ten minutes.
By Nick Ahrens | September 10, 2026
Nick Ahrens, an Anthem and Baseline specialist who runs this check with buyers before they write in 80023, tells them the wells are not a secret and they are not a dealbreaker on their own: they are a due-diligence item you clear on purpose, not something you discover after closing. Broomfield's fight over the Extraction Oil and Gas project was one of the most public in Colorado, and the wells are still on the map today under a different owner. This guide walks you through how to find them, read the disclosures, and use your contract deadlines while you still can.
Figures sourced from the Colorado Sun, Oil and Gas 360, and the City and County of Broomfield, current as of September 2026.
Are there oil and gas wells near homes in Broomfield's Anthem area?
Yes. The Livingston pad operated by Extraction Oil and Gas sits roughly 1,300 feet from the nearest home on the south side of Anthem Ranch, and it is one of six pads from a larger Broomfield development.
That development started with 84 wells on 6 pads, approved in 2017 after the original proposal was cut from 139 wells and 10 pads. Drilling began in December 2018. The operator today is Civitas Resources, which absorbed Extraction in a 2021 merger, so a title search or old news story naming Extraction and a current well record naming Civitas or Crestone can point to the same site.
Broomfield negotiated an operator agreement with 57 best-management practices: closed-loop systems, pipelines to cut truck traffic, quiet drilling equipment, and setbacks that went beyond state minimums at the time. Those rules were later called a model by other Front Range towns. They did not end the story. Residents near Anthem Ranch have filed complaints about noise and odor since drilling began, and in 2022 state regulators approved new Weld County wells over Broomfield's objections. If you are buying in the north end of 80023, this is worth an hour of your attention, not a panic.
How do you check for oil and gas wells near a Broomfield address?
Check the state well map, the city's monitoring pages, and the property's title and disclosures, in that order. Each one answers a different question, and you can do all three before your inspection deadline. Here is the exact process I use with buyers.
Search the ECMC interactive map by address. The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission publishes a public interactive well map and COGIS database covering more than 98,000 well locations statewide. Type in the address, then look for well symbols within a half mile. Click each one to see its status: producing, shut-in, or plugged and abandoned. A plugged well is a different neighbor than an active one.
Read the City of Broomfield oil and gas pages. Broomfield runs its own oil and gas environmental and air-quality monitoring program plus a regulatory information page. This is where you find monitoring data, complaint history, and the current status of the operator agreement for the pad near your address. Few other Colorado cities give buyers this much local data.
Order the title commitment and read the oil and gas disclosure. Colorado law (C.R.S. 38-35.7-108) requires the seller to give you a disclosure that the surface and mineral estates can be owned separately, that a third party may own or lease the minerals under the home, and that the mineral owner may enter and use the surface to reach them. Your title commitment's Schedule B-2 lists recorded mineral reservations, leases, and any surface use agreement. This is the same records-first approach I lay out for buyers looking at oil and gas wells in Erie.
Confirm whether the minerals are severed. If a prior owner sold the minerals, you are buying the surface only, and the mineral estate is dominant, meaning the mineral owner generally has a right to reasonable surface access. Ask your title company directly: are the mineral rights included, and is there a recorded surface use agreement? The Colorado State Land Board also publishes a severed-estate map you can cross-check.
Use your CREC deadlines to act. In a Colorado contract, your Title Objection Deadline and Inspection Objection Deadline are your windows to raise a well or a mineral issue in writing, negotiate, or terminate and get your earnest money back. Miss the date and the leverage is gone. Walk your specific timeline with your agent the same way you would after any Broomfield home inspection, and build the well check into your home tour checklist so you are not doing it under deadline pressure.
The Seller's Property Disclosure form asks about oil and gas too, but it is limited to what the seller personally knows. A blank answer means the seller has no knowledge, not that the ground is clear. The map and the title commitment are your real sources.
Does living near an oil and gas well lower a Broomfield home's value?
The effect is real but usually small, and it is concentrated during active drilling rather than quiet production. A Colorado State University study found about a 1% price reduction for every well being actively drilled within a half mile of a home at the time of sale.
SituationTypical effect on value Active drilling within a half mileSmall discount, roughly 1% per well during drilling Producing well, no active rigMinimal measurable effect in most sales Plugged and abandoned wellLittle to no ongoing effect A new pad newly proposed nearbyUncertainty until the permit and timeline are known
Nick Ahrens tells buyers to treat a known well as a negotiating fact, not a reason to run. If drilling is planned or active nearby, that is information you can price into your offer. If the wells are producing quietly or already plugged, the market has usually absorbed that long ago. What hurts buyers is finding out after closing, when there is no deadline left to renegotiate.
Can they drill new wells near a home you already own?
It is possible but harder than it used to be, and the biggest risk sits with the mineral estate, not the surface. Since Senate Bill 19-181 in 2019, the state regulator's job is to protect public health and safety, and a 2020 rule requires new wells to sit 2,000 feet from homes and schools unless the operator provides substantially equivalent protections.
That 2,000-foot rule is why new drilling next to an existing subdivision is now a heavy lift. The catch is severed minerals: if someone else owns the minerals under a neighborhood or the open space behind it, they retain rights that predate the current setback rules. That is why buyers sometimes see a pad appear near land they assumed was permanently open. Checking who owns the minerals, and whether any permits are pending on the ECMC map, tells you far more about future risk than the current view out the window. This is the kind of question I walk through with clients looking at the newer parts of Anthem, including Anthem Ranch, before they commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to live near an oil and gas well in Broomfield?
Broomfield operates one of the more extensive local air-quality monitoring programs in Colorado, and the current operator uses real-time monitors and enclosed flowback to limit emissions. Residents near Anthem Ranch have still reported noise and odor complaints since drilling began. Review the city's monitoring data for the specific pad near your address, and weigh it against how close the wells are and whether they are actively being drilled.
How far is the Livingston pad from Anthem homes?
The Livingston pad sits about 1,300 feet from the nearest home on the south side of Anthem Ranch. Colorado's 2,000-foot setback applies only to wells permitted after the 2020 rule, so wells approved earlier can legally be closer. You can measure the distance from any specific address using the ECMC interactive map.
What is a severed mineral estate, and how do I know if a home has one?
A severed mineral estate means the minerals under the property were sold off separately at some point, so the surface owner does not own what is below. You find out by reading the title commitment's Schedule B-2 exceptions and asking your title company directly whether the mineral rights convey. If they are severed, the mineral owner generally holds a right to reasonable surface access, which is why this belongs in your title review.
Are Broomfield's oil and gas wells still active in 2026?
Some are producing and some older wells have been plugged, and ownership has changed since the original Extraction project, so you should confirm the current status rather than assume. The operator today is Civitas Resources. Look up each well by address on the ECMC map to see whether it reads as producing, shut-in, or plugged and abandoned.
Checking the ground before you buy in Broomfield
Oil and gas wells near an Anthem or Baseline home are a due-diligence item, not a dealbreaker: you can find them on the ECMC map, confirm the mineral rights in your title commitment, and act inside your contract deadlines instead of discovering a surprise after closing. The buyers who get burned are the ones who never looked.
If you want help checking a specific 80023 address, pulling the well records and title, and deciding whether a well nearby should change your offer, call or text me at 949-230-3625, or email me at NickAhrensRealEstate@gmail.com. I will run the check with you before you write.
About Nick Ahrens
Nick Ahrens is a Colorado real estate broker with The Apollo Group at eXp Realty, specializing in the Anthem and Baseline communities of Broomfield (80023). With 15+ years in the business and 350+ career closings, he helps North Denver sellers and relocating buyers navigate pricing, timing, and the path to closing. Connect with Nick at youranthemhome.com.
