Two of Colorado's biggest oil and gas operators — Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Noble Energy, Inc. – are backing a new group over energy production and the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing in Colorado.

The two companies filed paperwork with Secretary of State Scott Gessler August 26 to create the nonprofit "Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development", or CRED (website here).

According to an announcement from the group Thursday, CRED planned to focus on "a new public education effort in Colorado ... aimed at informing the general public about the energy, economic and environmental benefits of safe and responsible oil and natural gas development."

It said Anadarko and Noble, "as leaders in the oil and natural gas industry ... are among the most technically qualified to explain the practice of hydraulic fracturing in Colorado."

The two companies are investing a total nearly $3 billion into Colorado oil and gas field this year.

Anadarko and Noble are focused on oil and natural gas production in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which sprawls north and east of Denver into Nebraska and Wyoming. The two companies employ hundreds of people in the state.

Radio advertisements started running Thursday with a message of: "Get the facts on fracking first before making a decision."