Wakeman OGDP

Permitted By Dunamis Energy in Adams County Near Brighton, Colorado

Overview

Dunamis Energy Operating LLC (having acquired the Wakeman OGDP from POCO Operating in October 2025) has a permit to drill up to 16 horizontal wells in a single occupation from a single working pad surface at East 136th Avenue and Powhaton Road in unincorporated Adams County, about 2 miles east of Barr Lake. This location was permitted on the same day as the Conner OGDP just over a mile to the west; Dunamis plans to drill and complete the wells at both pads through 2027. The design uses Modular Large Volume Tanks (MLVTs) in place of open pits, pipeline takeaway for produced oil and gas, and a grid-powered drilling rig and equipment where feasible.

Wakeman sits closer to homes than Conner: five Residential Building Units (RBUs) fall within 2,000 feet of the working pad surface, the nearest just 1,428 feet away. For this and other compounding factors, the approval of the Wakeman OGDP took a different (and longer) path than the Conner pad.

View a full version of the Wakeman OGDP map, or order a 24″ x 36″ printed map.

The Process

The Wakeman OGDP was approved by the ECMC commissioners on April 23, 2025 (see Docket 221200383), and Adams County approved the companion Oil and Gas Facility (OGF) permit on March 18, 2025, by a 4–1 vote. No wells have been drilled yet; ECMC’s rules require drilling to begin within three years of approval (April 2028) or the plan expires. Dunamis expects to begin drilling in Fall 2026.

FAQ

How much water will be used?

In their January 2023 Form 2B Cumulative Impacts reports, POCO estimated a total of 4,740,000 barrels (about 199 million gallons) of surface water to be consumed to drill 16 wells at Wakeman, for about 12.4 million gallons per well. This difference means that POCO projected the Wakeman wellbores (11% shorter than those at Conner) to use 31% less water per wellbore-mile than at the Conner pad. No reason has been given for this discrepancy. We’ll see if these estimates hold in practice. As with the Conner pad, the operator does not intend to reuse any produced water for the hydraulic fracturing operations at the Wakeman pad.

Is this pad in a Disproportionately Impacted (DI) community?

No, the Wakeman pad did not meet the criteria for a Disproportionately Impacted (DI) community status, but CDPHE’s EnviroScreen report flagged the surrounding census block group in the 98th percentile statewide for proximity to existing oil and gas locations, the 98.5th percentile for modeled air toxics emissions, and the upper 70s for both sensitive-population and climate-vulnerability scores. CDPHE used these data to advocate for additional best management practices (BMPs) around electrification and ozone mitigation.

What triggered the alternative location analysis?

An alternative location analysis was required under ECMC Rule 304.b.(2).B due to residential building units (RBUs) being within 1/2 mile of the proposed location.

Contacts

Questions about Dunamis Energy’s plans for the Wakeman Pad:
Erin Mathews, VP of Regulatory Affairs
erinm@dunamis-energy.com · 970-302-6171

Community Relations Line
community@dunamis-energy.com · 970-344-3055

Questions about Adams County permitting of the Wakeman Pad:
Greg Dean, Adams County Oil & Gas Administrator
gdean@adamscountyco.gov · 720-523-6891

Questions for the City of Brighton’s Oil & Gas Liaison:
Holly Prather, Community Development Director
HPrather@brightonco.gov · 303-655-2022

If you’re not getting straight answers from any of the above, our team has been following this project closely and is happy to help. Feel free to contact us directly.

Timeline

The Story Thus Far

Jul 30, ’18: Original DSU Established: Verdad Resources receives approval from the ECMC for the original Wakeman drilling and spacing unit and 16 horizontal wells (Order 407-2516); the site itself was first permitted at this time but never built.
Oct 26, ’22: Neighborhood Meeting: Adams County holds the required community meeting ahead of an Adams County oil and gas facility permit application on the same date as the meeting for Conner; three residents attend. Providence Operating, as the new owner of the OGDP notes, “the majority of the comments received were regarding noise, royalty payments and anticipated road improvements. The conversations were very productive and informative.”
Dec 30, ’22: OGDP Application Filed: Providence Operating, aka POCO, files the Wakeman 20-17 Oil and Gas Development Plan application, opening ECMC Docket 221200383, over a year before filing the Conner application.
Oct 17, ’23: Application Deemed Complete: ECMC certifies the OGDP application complete and opens a 30-day public comment period. Only Adams County makes a comment, noting POCO does not yet hold a valid local permit.
Dec 29, ’23: County Permit Application Filed: POCO files a new Adams County Oil and Gas Facility permit application (Case OGF2024-00001), a year after its ECMC filing.
Mar 21, ’24: Director’s Recommendation: ECMC staff recommend approval, contingent on a Rule 604.b.(4) “substantial equivalency” finding given the five homes within 2,000 feet of the pad.
Mar 27, ’24: Commission Hearing Convened, Then Held Open: The ECMC Commission takes up the case but holds it pending Adams County’s still-unresolved local permit, rather than returning a decision that day.
Mar 18, ’25: County Permit Approved: The Adams County Board of Commissioners approves the local Oil and Gas Facility (OGF) permit on a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Pinter voting no. One member of the public, the site’s surface owner, provided comment in support.
Apr 23, ’25: ECMC Approves OGDP: The ECMC Commission approves the Wakeman 20-17 OGDP (Order No. 407-3716) on the same day it approves the Conner OGDP.
Oct 31, ’25: Ownership Transfer: POCO Operating sells the Wakeman location to Dunamis Energy Operating LLC, the current operator at the Wakeman pad.

Proposed Drilling/Completions Schedule

Scant details are available about the proposed drilling and completions schedule; we’ll update as information becomes available.

2027: Dunamis will drill and complete the 16 wells at the Wakeman pad in a single occupation.
Mar 18, ’28: Adams County Permit Expires: All wells on the Wakeman pad must be drilled and completed to meet Adams County permit conditions.

More Information

We’ve assembled the documents below from application materials submitted to the ECMC; see the disclaimer below. Visit the ECMC Hearings eFiling System, select the DNRCOG Search for Docket Related Documents option and search for Docket 221200383 for a complete listing of docket-related documents.

Wakeman OGDP Map: A detailed map provided by our partners at EcoCarto showing the existing and proposed oil & gas infrastructure, as well as the health-risk radii for the Wakeman OGDP in Adams County, near Powhaton Road and East 136th Avenue.
Adams County Permitting Summary: A summary of the Adams County conditional approval of the Wakeman Oil and Gas Facility (OGF) written by Greg Dean, Adams County Oil & Gas Administrator.
Wakeman 20-17 OGDP Application: The original application filed by POCO Operating in December 2022, describing the proposed 16-well pad, its location near Powhaton Road, and how the site will be built, drilled, and operated.
CDPHE Comments on the Wakeman OGDP: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s review of the application, covering the air quality and public health commitments POCO agreed to before the project moved forward.
Wakeman 604.b Summary: POCO’s summary of the design measures and Best Management Practices offered to satisfy ECMC Rule 604.b.(4), the “substantial equivalency” pathway required because five homes fall within 2,000 feet of the pad.
ECMC Director’s Recommendation: ECMC staff’s own review of the Wakeman application, recommending approval and laying out the conditions attached to that recommendation.
Wakeman 20-17 OGDP Final Order: The Commission’s official order approving the Wakeman OGDP, formally granting POCO Operating permission to drill and produce the 16 approved wells.
Original 2017 Location Assessment (PetroShare): ECMC’s record of the original operator, PetroShare Corporation, first permitting this exact site in 2017; the permit Adams County later confirmed had lapsed when PetroShare missed its 2021 drilling deadline, well before POCO took over the project.
Change of Operator (Form 9, Transfer of Operatorship): ECMC’s record of the transfer of the Wakeman OGDP from POCO Operating to Dunamis Energy Operating LLC, effective October 31, 2025; the same portfolio-wide filing that also transferred the Conner pad.

Disclaimer

This webpage was compiled from publicly available application and permit materials from the ECMC. This page is for community information purposes only; it is not a substitute for reviewing the official permit documents at the ECMC.