Niobrara Shale

Noble Energy - Niobrara Shale Q3 2010 Conference Call Comments - Part One

Noble Energy (NBL) held a conference call on October 28, 2010, to discuss earnings and other information for the third quarter of 2010.  The company made extensive comments on its activities in the Niobrara Shale, where the company is one of the leaders in developing this liquids rich play. Noble Energy has built up its acreage in four separate areas in the Niobrara Shale.

Project Areas

“We view the horizontal Niobrara program in four distinct parts. First off is the core Wattenberg where a substantial amount of vertical development have taken place over the years and we’re now identifying locations for additional horizontal wells. The horizontal potential in the Wattenberg core was highlighted earlier this year by our Gemini well success and we expect to drill more Gemini type wells by the end of the year.”

“The second area is on the Northern and Eastern edges of Wattenberg where we’re focusing on expanding the economic limits of the field. A large portion of our horizontal drilling to-date has been in this area and we’ve been encouraged by flow rates with liquid contributions north of 70%.”

“Third is our position in Northern Colorado from the edges of Wattenberg basically up to the Wyoming border and the fourth area is our acreage in Southeastern Wyoming and Northwest, Weld County, Colorado. Overall, we should be adding two horizontal rigs to the DJ Basin next year and we expect to drill more than double the number of horizontal wells in 2011 than we will drill this year.”

Grover

“In our third Niobrara Shale focus area, Northern Colorado, we have drilled and completed four wells around the Grover area. The first two wells we’re targeting quiet areas identified on the 3D where we are testing metrics contribution. Despite the lack of natural fractures, initial 24-hour rates were 500 to 600 barrels of oil equivalent per day with around 85% oil contribution.”

“Our third and fourth wells were a few miles to the east in an area with more natural fractures. They were recently completed and are cleaning up after stimulation.

"In the fourth area of focus in Southeast Wyoming, we are now drilling our second of three wells, combining 3D seismic data with core and log information gained from vertical monitoring wells, all of which will help in evaluating this portion of the play. The first horizontal well was fracture-stimulated this week.”

Source

Continental Resources Comments On Niobrara Potential

Continental Resources (CLR) held a conference call on August 5, 2010, and made comments on its operations in the Niobrara Shale. The company is accumulating acreage in the Niobrara Shale and now holds 60,000 net acres across Wyoming and Colorado.

“The Niobrara is a huge crude oil resource play. It covers over 3 million acres and has a potential to produce more than 2 billion barrels of oil. We’ve established a strategic position in the play, leasing almost 60,000 net acres and continue to acquire more. We hold acreage in Platt, Laramie, and Goshen Counties in Wyoming and Weld County in Colorado.”

“Our leases are in proximity to several of the most interesting test wells drilled to date. EOG Resources kicked off recent search and drilling with five horizontal wells including the Jake 2-1H, which had an initial production rate of 1,558 barrels of oil equivalent per day and an average of 555 barrels oil per day over its first 90 days.”

“Noble Energy has announced four wells that produced an average of 585 barrels per day of oil over their first 60 days production, including one that averaged 1,000 barrels oil per day. Niobrara development is currently on 640 spacing.”

“We plan to spot our first Niobrara well in the fourth quarter. Continental’s entry into the Niobrara is a natural strategic fit with our expertise and experience in horizontal oil resource plays.”

Source

Noble Energy - Niobrara Shale - Conference Call Comments - Part Two

Noble Energy (NBL) reported earnings for the second quarter of 2010 and discussed its activities in the Niobrara Shale during the quarterly conference call held on July 29, 2010. Noble Energy is drilling laterals from 4000 to 4500 feet, and utilizing 14 to 16 stage hydraulic fracturing stages on the wells. The company indicated that wells costs are approximately $3.5 million per well.

“Some of these more recent wells have much higher liquid contents than what we have seen earlier… wells with the higher liquid content, gives you a little different producing mechanism where you don't have the gas to lift it, so we will have to go in on some of these areas and put artificial lift on some of these fields. So that will spread out some of the timing of the decline understanding.”

“I think by the end of this year we will have 15 to 20 horizontal wells in Wattenberg, we will have six or seven in this Grover area that's kind of northeast of Wattenberg and we will have three in southern Wyoming.”

Source