Niobrara Shale

Ultra Petroleum Discusses New Niobrara Position During Conference Call

Ultra Petroleum (UPL) provided a little more detail on its new Niobrara position during the conference call held on August 10, 2011.

Ultra Petroleum has assembled 100,000 net acres that is outside the current hub of activity in the Niobrara.  The company decided on this strategy for three reasons:

“First, we've done the regional work to support our decision. We've mapped all 3 chalk benches from both a structural and a thickness standpoint. We've also mapped thermal maturity and net oil pay across the DJ Basin.”

“Second, beyond regional mapping, we have 30 feet of recent conventional core from a Niobrara bench in the middle of our leased position. We got a full suite of shale logs including fracture identification logs from that same key well. We also have 21 square miles of 3-D seismic data and regional gravity and regional arrow magnetic data.”

“Third factor behind our decision is cost. We have assembled an attractive leasehold position in a highly prospective area at costs much lower than leases in Weld and Laramie counties. We're currently making plans to drill 4 exploratory wells across our acreage position this winter. We'll be acquiring modern shale logs and taking additional Niobrara core. Our intent is to test the Niobrara chalk benches individually in these wells as all 3 look prospective in the area, and we want to determine where the value is. We plan to test the resource with horizontal wells early next year.”

Ultra Petroleum believes that its leasehold is as good as any in Weld and Laramie counties:

“Our rock quality from a porosity, oil saturation, lithology, brittleness standpoint is every bit as good, if not better than in those areas. We have positive indications of fracture in our well logs and regional work indicating the area is likely to be fractured.”

Source

Chesapeake Energy - Niobrara Shale Update

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) disclosed additional detail on the Niobrara Shale and the company’s development plans there at an analyst meeting held in October 2010.

Chesapeake Energy drilled and completed the Spillman Draw Unit State 16-1H and reported an initial production rate of 705 barrels of oil equivalent per day. This production was composed of 655 barrels per day of oil and 300,000 cubic feet per day of natural gas.

The Niobrara Shale has a reservoir porosity ranging from 5.5% to 7.5% in the Powder River Basin and from 7% to 9% in the Denver Julesburg Basin. The Niobrara Shale is more pressurized in the Powder River Basin since it is at a deeper depth.

Chesapeake Energy reported that industry wide 33 wells have been drilled to date so far in the Niobrara Shale, and 9 wells are being completed. There have been 175 well permits issued to ten exploration and production companies.