Niobrara Shale

Anadarko Petroleum Updates Horizontal Niobrara Program In Wattenberg Field

Anadarko Petroleum (APC) updated investors on the company’s horizontal development of the Niobrara formation in Colorado.  The company is focused on the Wattenberg field in Colorado.

Anadarko Petroleum has eleven producing wells in the Niobrara or Codell formations and has disclosed the following operational data on its acreage:

Future drilling locations - 1,200 to 2,700
Estimated ultimate recoveries - 300,000 to 600,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per well
Net resources - 500 million to 1.5 billion BOE
Well cost range - $4.0 to $5.0 million initially
Liquids content – 70%

Anadarko Petroleum said that the eleven wells had initial production rates averaging 800 BOE per day.  The best well was the Dolph 27-1HZ, which produced 1,100 barrels of oil and 2.4 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, and had an estimated EUR of 600,000 BOE.

Anadarko Petroleum said that the company will accelerate drilling in the Wattenberg program in 2012 and operate seven rigs by the end of year.  The company estimates that it will drill 160 horizontal Niobrara wells in 2012, up from 40 in 2011.

Bill Barrett Corporation Acquires Niobrara Acreage

Bill Barrett Corporation (BBG) reported that the company has signed an agreement to purchase leasehold in the Denver-Julesburg Basin that is prospective for the Niobrara formation.  The company said that the acreage is in the Hereford area near the Colorado and Wyoming border.

Bill Barrett Corporation will pay $150 million to Texas American Resources Company for 28,000 net acres.  The acreage has current net production of 650 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day mostly from the Niobrara and Codell formations, and contains approximately seven million BOE of proved reserves net to the company.  

Bill Barrett Corporation will have 67,000 net acres of leasehold with exposure to the Niobrara formation and estimates that this transaction will increase capital expenditures by as much as $35 million in 2011.

Sundance Energy Starts Up Niobrara Shale Program

Sundance Energy has announced the start of its 3D seismic program targeting the Niobara Shale in the Denver Julesburg (DJ) Basin.

Sundance Energy has 14,000 net acres that is prospective for the Niobrara Shale, at 3 separate prospects in the DJ Basin. The prospects are Bull Canyon, Twister Field and the Silo Field.

Sundance Energy is targeting the Parkman, Codell, Muddy and Lyon Sandstone formations in the Niobrara Shale.