Niobrara Shale - Niobrara Oil Formation - Niobrara Shale Map

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Niobrara Shale Formation - Colorado/Kansas/Wyoming - Natural Gas & Oil Field

Niobrara Shale Oil Field - Colorado - Weld County, Yuma County, Adams County, Morgan County
Wyoming - Goshen County, Platte County, Niobrara County, Laramie County ( Cheyenne )

February 2010 - Unidentified company drills a Niobrara Formation oil well that yielded 1770 BOPD in first 24 hours - located in Weld County, CO - 8 miles west of Grover
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What is the Niobrara Shale Formation?  The Niobrara Shale is a shale rock formation located in Northeast Colorado, Northwest Kansas, Southwest Nebraska, and Southeast Wyoming.  Oil and Natural Gas can be found deep below the earth's surface at depths of 3,000 - 14,000 feet.  Companies drill these wells vertically and even horizontally to get at the Oil and Natural Gas in the Niobrara Formation.

The Niobrara Shale is located in the Denver–Julesburg basin which is often refered to as the DJ Basin. This exciting oil shale play is being compared to the Bakken Shale which is located in North Dakota.  While we are still in the early stages on the Niobrara play, the results are looking very promising.  Oil & Gas companies are quickly leasing land in the core zones located in Weld County Colorado, Yuma County Colorado, and even Cheyenne, Kansas.

The Niobrara Shale is semi new oil formation that is starting to see some exciting results.  Many companies are actively buying up land leases and acquiring acreage in the Colorado / Wyoming regions.  As we approach the end of 2010, we should get a better sense of the potential here.  Samson Oil & Gas Limited (SSN), which has 46,000 net acres in the Goshen Wyoming area, is already referring the Niobrara Shale as the NeoBakken.  Recently, EOG Resources (EOG) announced they continue to lease land but are up to 400,000 acres. 

In the DJ Basin of Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming, EOG has accumulated 400,000 net acres and has completed three successful wells in the Niobrara Play to date. EOG is encouraged that the first well, the Jake 2-01H drilled in Northern Colorado, produced 50 thousand barrels of crude oil in the first 90 days. However, due to the complexity of the fracture system, assessment of long-term production performance and further improvements in completion optimization will be required before EOG moves into development mode and estimates its reserve potential. Geologic mapping of EOG's acreage position indicates there may be potential for multiple core areas. Link Here
The Niobrara Oil Shale joins the ranks of the Bakken Shale (North Dakota) and the Eagle Ford Shale ( South Texas ).

Niobrara Geological Map
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http://www.irvineenergy.com/projects/index.htm

Niobrara Oil Map Approx. Zone
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Companies Drilling in the Niobrara Shale - Niobrara Shale Stocks

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Noble Energy, Inc. NBL - Noble Energy NBL Niobrara Shale Update - In the Niobrara Shale, we will be expanding our horizontal Niobrara program based on our results and a focus on continuing to appraise our acreage. We’re planning to drill north of 70 horizontal Niobrara wells this year up from 27 last year.

We currently have three horizontal rigs drilling in the basin. Our plans have us growing to four in the April timeframe and then five in the second half of the year. These rigs will move around but on average we’ll have three to four in Wattenberg with one shared between Northern Colorado and Wyoming. Our goal is to accelerate activity in areas where we know the potential is defined. For us this is in Wattenberg, both in the core of the field and on the edges, areas where we have nice success to date and our growth outlook is not constrained by infrastructure. We’ll continue delineating our acreage position in Northern Colorado and Wyoming but at a more paced approach as compared to our plans for Wattenberg. This gives us time to test a number of different areas, learn from others in the northern part of the play as well and allow for needed infrastructure development.

In Wattenberg, including both the core of the field and the edges, we have now drilled and completed over 25 horizontal wells. So far results have confirmed high quality Niobrara horizontal potential across half of this 400,000 acre position. Twenty-one of our wells have been online for more than 30 days with an average 24-hour IP of about 750,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and a 30 day average of over 500 barrels of oil equivalent per day at 45% to 75% liquid content. In the heart of the field we have just now completed our sixth well, and the overall results are very strong. One of our most recent Gemini type wells, the Hanscom (ph), started with a 24-hour IP of over 1,250 barrels of oil equivalent per day and averaged 900 barrels of oil equivalent per day for the first 30 days on a restricted choke up the casing.

We’ve completed 13 wells testing the outlying edges of Wattenberg. Liquid contribution in this area exceeds 70% and has allowed us to drill economic horizontal wells where vertical wells were previously marginal. Our latest estimate based on production history and our updated outlook for horizontal Niobrara, EURs in Wattenberg is around 310,000 barrels equivalent per well, up from our previous 290,000 estimate.

In northern Colorado we have drilled and completed four wells in our 190,000 acreage position to date. We are encouraged with the results of our first two wells drilled with IPs that were 500 to 600 barrels of oil equivalent per day and 85% oil contribution. Analysis indicates we did not effectively stimulate our next two wells, and we have adjusted our planned completions for the following three wells in this area. We’re still optimistic about what we have learned so far, and our fifth well in the area will be completed by the end of February, and the next two will be completed by early April.

The third phase of our horizontal Niobrara program is in southeast Wyoming where we have drilled three wells. Two are undergoing completion operations and one has just been completed and put on artificial lift. Our next drilling in this area will begin in the second quarter.

Supporting our overall DJ Basin program in 2011, we have committed to the purchase of approximately 1,000 square miles of spec 3D seismic, and will be integrating the data into our future plans during the second half of the year. Across our 830,000 acre position, we will have 1,300 square miles of 3D by the end of the year.

2011 Update - In the DJ Basin, the acceleration of our horizontal Niobrara play continues. We are operating 5 horizontal and 8 vertical rigs in the DJ Basin and are on pace to have over 80 horizontal wells drilled this year in the Wattenberg field. Additionally, we plan to have drilled 7 horizontal wells in northern Colorado and one in Wyoming by year end. Of the wells in Wattenberg, 15% are in the higher GLR area and the remainder in the lower GLR areas of the field where we've experienced roughly 70% liquids.

Our pace of drilling and completions continues to increase. In the third quarter, we completed an average of 8 horizontal wells per month, including 10 in September, a significant acceleration from the 4 completions per month that we averaged in the second quarter. We expect to maintain a rate of 10 horizontal wells completed per month throughout the fourth quarter. This activity level is translating into production growth. At the end of September, our horizontal Niobrara production was 14,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day gross or 11,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day net to Noble Energy. This is up 64% from the 8,900 barrels oil equivalent per day gross at the end of the second quarter. We feel very good about the momentum of this program.

Chesapeake Energy CHK - Rocky Mountain Unconventional Liquids Plays (southern Wyoming and northern Colorado): And our data room is open for the Niobrara Shale JV, in which we own 800,000 net acres, evenly split between the Powder River and D-J Basins. We expect to also sell a 33% working interest in this play at what we believe will be an attractive price both to us and to our future partner.  We believe the recoverable resource under our 800,000 net acres is an unrisked approximate 4.6 billion barrels of oil, representing potentially $400 billion of future undiscounted revenue. This is a reminder that the size of the plays that we have chased and have captured is quite remarkable.
2011 Update - Joint Venture Announced in Niobrara Shale - Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) and CNOOC Limited (NYSE:CEO; SEHK:00883) today announced the closing of a project cooperation agreement whereby CNOOC International Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, purchased a 33.3% undivided interest in Chesapeake's 800,000 net oil and natural gas leasehold acres in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Powder River Basins in northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming. The consideration for the transaction was $570 million in cash. In addition, CNOOC Limited has agreed to fund 66.7% of Chesapeake's share of drilling and completion costs up to $697 million, which Chesapeake expects to occur by year-end 2014.

Also, In November 2011, Chesapeake indicated they are selling some of their acreage on the northern side of the Niobrara play.  They want to focus on core area.

Continental Resources  CLR - Continental Resources (CLR) Niobrara Shale Update - Niobrara Play (Colorado and Wyoming) - Continental is currently completing its second and third Niobrara test wells in Weld County, Colorado. The two are designed to test a high resistivity, porous chalk fairway in the play, where the Company has approximately 25,000 net acres.  The Marconi 1-1H (62% WI) is being completed on 1,280-acre spacing and is located 12 miles south of the Company's initial test well. The Perrin 1-10H (51% WI) was drilled on 640-acre spacing two miles west of the Marconi.  Continental has a total of 90,293 net acres leased in the DJ Basin-Niobrara.

SM Energy SM - SM Energy (SM) Niobrara Shale -  We have provided a map of our Niobrara test wells in our southern DJ Basin acreage – I should say northern DJ Basin acreage. We have now completed five wells in our perspective areas south of the Silo Field.  The well results continue to confirm our original thought that the highly fractured nature of the Niobrara in this area may result in a wider distribution of outcomes in many other resource place. We believe that it is logical to try to drill these wells with longer laterals similar to what we're doing in the Bakken. And that's the direction we'll be moving in this area in 2012.  We're currently drilling our first Niobrara test well in the deep portion of the Powder River Basin where we have a significantly larger acreage position.

EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG) - EOG Resources has 400,000 acres in the Niobrara shale ( Weld County ).  Across its other crude oil and liquids-rich shale plays, EOG also recorded strong, consistent performance. In the Rocky Mountains, EOG has maintained a steady level of drilling activity in the Colorado Niobrara Shale and Wyoming Powder River Basin plays.

ConocoPhillips (COP) - ConocoPhillips has entered the Niobrara Shale - ConocoPhillips [NYSE:COP] today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire up to 46,000 net acres of leasehold from Lario Oil & Gas Company in the Colorado counties of Arapahoe, Adams, Elbert and Douglas. This agreement represents a significant investment by ConocoPhillips in this area south and east of the greater Denver metroplex.

"ConocoPhillips is pleased to have this opportunity to participate in the emerging Niobrara exploration and development play," said Larry Archibald, senior vice president of Exploration and Business Development at ConocoPhillips. "Building on the strong relationships developed by Lario, we look forward to working with all local stakeholders as a first step in demonstrating our commitment to act as a steward of this region’s natural resources."

ConocoPhillips will become operator of the acquired leases and will begin exploration efforts as soon as possible with the acquisition of a 3-D seismic survey and drilling of test wells

Samson Oil & Gas Limited (SSN) - WYOMING DENVER-JULESBURG (D-J) BASIN - Samson has completed the acquisition of its 63 square mile 3-D seismic survey in Goshen County, Wyoming and is now in the process of interpreting some of the preliminary processed data. Final processing products will follow which will give Samson a more detailed picture of the subsurface beneath the 16,000 net acres it has under lease. The purpose of shooting the 3-D survey is to allow Samson to image and map fracture swarms within the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation so that proper well path trajectories are designed and drilled. A well trajectory perpendicular to fracturing will produce more hydrocarbons than a well trajectory parallel to the fracturing. The 3-D seismic survey will also help identify conventional-type prospects in the Cretaceous Codell, Muddy, and Dakota sands.
Samson has also entered into a joint-venture partnership with Mountain Energy and Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. in a portion of its Goshen County project. Under the terms of the agreement Samson and Mountain Energy will be free carried through the drilling of two 4,500 foot horizontal wells and will be reimbursed for the cost incurred in the North Platte 3D seismic over an area of 24 square miles. Halliburton will acquire 25% equity in the farmin area. The transaction has been structured such that the acquisition cost is at a rate of $3,275 per acre. Halliburton has the right to not drill the second farmin well, but the acquired acreage would be reduced prorate.
The Halliburton farmin area consists of a gross area of 11,277 acres of which Samson currently owns 6,589 net acres. Subsequent to the completion of both wells Samson’s acreage holding inside the Halliburton area will be reduced to 4,941 acres (or 25%), however Samson’s total holding in the Project will be 14,353 acres, (compared to approximately 16,000 acres currently held). Samson will remain Operator; however Halliburton as part of the Agreement will be providing project management services along with regular oil field services to effect the drilling, completion and fracture stimulation of the wells drilled.

Encana ECA - Encana has announced they have acreage in the Niobrara Shale - Moving to Colorado. During the quarter, we drilled 5 horizontal Niobrara wells in the DJ Basin. The wells have an average lateral length of 4,250 feet and an average true vertical depth of 7,300 feet. Four of the wells have now been completed with an average of 17 stimulation stages and are on production. The fifth well is expected to be completed in early November and should be flowing by mid-November. We are currently evaluating production results, but the early data is encouraging. You should expect to see a higher level of activity in each of these plays in the first half of 2012, and it will continue to increase as we gather more information. We'll have more details on each play once we've completed our budget process.

MDU Resources MDU - MDU Resources Niobrara Oil Play - Niobrara – southeastern Wyoming
  • The company holds approximately 65,000 net exploratory leasehold acres in this emerging oil play. Appraisal well drilling has begun with a total of 4 wells planned during the next several months.
  • If successful, the company plans to initiate a drilling program of approximately 8 wells annually starting in 2012.
  • The company also expects to participate in various non-operated wells in the Niobrara.
  • Although this is an emerging exploratory play, the company estimates it has as many as 200 potential future gross wells on this acreage based on 640-acre spacing. Estimated gross ultimate recovery rates per well are 200,000 to 300,000 Bbls.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) - Anadarko Petroleum APC has provided a drilling update in the Niobrara Shale - Anadarko continued to evaluate the horizontal Niobrara opportunity in its industry-leading 900,000 net acreage position in the DJ Basin. The vast majority of this acreage is economically advantaged by the company's fee mineral ownership via the Land Grant. With three horizontal rigs active in the play during the quarter, Anadarko drilled 10 horizontal Niobrara wells and is currently producing from 15 wells. The company has an additional 360,000 net acres of horizontal Niobrara opportunity in the Powder River Basin, where the company plans to add a rig in the 3rd quarter to test multiple locations. Anadarko plans to drill more than 40 horizontal Niobrara wells during 2011.

Update - The Wattenberg field set a record for quarterly sales volumes averaging 72,400 BOE/d, which represents a 22% increase over the 3rd quarter of 2010. Anadarko’s focus on liquids-rich opportunities provided for a 36% increase in liquids sales volumes during the 3rd quarter, relative to the same period of 2010.  The company drilled 106 wells during the quarter, utilizing five operated drilling rigs.  In addition, the company had three horizontal rigs active during the quarter and drilled nine horizontal Niobrara/Codell wells in the Wattenberg field. Three additional horizontal wells were drilled in the Greater DJ Basin outside the Wattenberg field.  Anadarko is currently producing from 24 horizontal wells in the
play.

Devon Energy (DVN) - Devon Energy (DVN) Niobrara Shale -  And in Niobrara, we have approximately 200,000 net acres in the Powder River Basin and 100,000 net acres in northern part of the DJ Basin. This is a very active industry play right now, with about 30 rigs working. Many of the industry wells drilled to date were drilled without the benefit of 3D data, making it difficult to target, identify and land in the appropriate zones. Our initial focus in the DJ Basin will be to utilize 3D to improve upon the lack of consistency demonstrated to date in this play by the industry.

We are currently drilling our first wells in both basins. We plan to drill or participate in 6 Niobrara wells in the Powder and 4 in the DJ basin in 2011.

Petroleum Development Corporation (PETD) - PDC Energy PETD Niobrara play -  PDC recently spud its ninth horizontal Niobrara well and is experiencing promising results from both the core Wattenberg Field and prospect areas outside the core. Five wells have been turned to sales. These five wells had an average 24-hour initial production ("IP") rate of 623 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d) and an average 30-day IP rate of 412 Boe/d. These early rates are exceeding the Company's initial type curve estimate of 290 thousand barrels of oil equivalent ("Mboe") per well for its horizontal Niobrara program. Production from this program currently averages 76% oil and natural gas liquids and 24% natural gas.  Drill times on the 4,000 foot horizontal laterals (11,200 foot measured depth) in these areas averaged less than ten days from spud to total depth. Current well costs are approximately $4.2 to $4.5 million per well depending on final completion design. Typical frac designs entail approximately 16 stages per horizontal well. The Company anticipates a total of 16 horizontal Niobrara wells to be spud and approximately 14 completions to be executed during 2011.  PDC continues to assess its inventory of horizontal Niobrara opportunities within the core Wattenberg Field. Based on a current assessment of potential locations, the Company has increased its projected inventory from 125 to 350 gross locations.

Whiting Petroleum Corporation (WLL) - Whiting Petroleum (WLL) 2011 Niobrara Shale Update - Redtail Niobrara Prospect. The Redtail prospect targets the Niobrara "B" zone in the Denver Basin, in Weld County, Colorado. Whiting controls 104,425 gross (76,065 net) acres in the play. The Wild Horse 16-13H, our first well drilled on a northeast azimuth, is currently producing 328 BOE per day. The last well in the initial 2010-2011 five-well program, the Two Mile Creek 22-13H, has been completed with an initial production rate of 216 BOE per day. This well was also drilled on a northeast azimuth.

Based on the results of the Wild Horse and Two Mile Creek wells and utilizing newly acquired 3D, Whiting is currently planning and permitting a second round of drilling. The new program will consist of two north-south oriented 7,000-foot laterals drilled in 960-acre spacing units and two 4,000-foot northeast oriented laterals in 640-acre units. Drill depths within this area range from 5,500 to 6,500 feet with completed well costs of $4.0 million for shorter laterals and $5.5 million for longer laterals. We spudded the first well in late October.

Rex Energy REXX - Rex Energy (REXX) provides an operational update on the Niobrara Shale - Denver Julesberg (DJ — Rockies) Basin

Rex Energy has completed drilling and completion operations on the Steege #1-33H well located in Laramie County, Wyoming and completed drilling of the Shapley #14-25H in Weld County, Colorado. Both of these wells have been determined to be non-commercial. Due to the company's large inventory of liquids-weighted and higher-return projects within its portfolio of assets, Rex Energy is pursuing strategic alternatives, including potential joint ventures or sales of its approximately 40,000 net acre position in the DJ Basin. Based on recent results in the DJ Basin, the company has expensed its remaining five well bore locations, which resulted in approximately $30.6 million in exploration expense for the third quarter. As of September 30, 2011, the company held approximately $25.5 million of carrying costs for developed and undeveloped properties on its balance sheet. Of this amount, approximately $23.9 million is related to undeveloped properties.

Quiksilver Resources KWK - Quicksilver has added approximately 145,000 gross (77,000 net) acres to its existing acreage holdings in the Greater Green River Basin of northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. The company now has approximately 140,000 net acres in the basin, which it believes to be prospective for both oil and natural gas in the Niobrara formation. The company anticipates drilling two exploratory wells on this acreage in 2011.

Bill Barrett Corp  BBG - Bill Barrett Corp BBG Niobrara Shale - Denver-Julesburg Basin, Colorado and Wyoming

Wattenberg/Chalk Bluffs/Sagebrush – The Company has approximately 67,500 net acres in the DJ Basin, a fourth key development area for the Company. The Company closed on its DJ Basin acquisition in August, took over operations as of September and initiated drilling in mid-October. Drilling commenced in the Wattenberg area, where current production is from the Codell, Niobrara and J Sand formations. Following four-to-five vertical wells in the Wattenberg Field, the Company plans to initiate exploration drilling in the area, targeting the Niobrara shale formation through horizontal wells.

During the third quarter of 2011, the Company completed its first DJ Basin exploration well and had a small participation interest in a second well, both located in the northern DJ Basin, north of the Company’s recent acquisition, which did not produce commercial quantities of oil and were expensed as dry holes.

Wind River Basin, Wyoming

McRae Gap - The Company has identified approximately 100,000 net undeveloped acres within its acreage position in the area that it considers prospective for Niobrara shale oil. In the third quarter of 2011, the Company completed its first horizontal exploration well into the lower bench of the Niobrara shale at approximately 8,000’ in depth with an approximate 3,200’ lateral and 13 fracture stimulation stages. While the first exploration well in the area produced only minor amounts of oil, the Company is reviewing data to refine its drilling focus in the prospect. In the third quarter, this $5.7 million McRae Gap well was expensed as a dry hole.

Marathon Oil Corp MROMarathon Oil (MRO) Niobrara Shale -  In the Niobrara Shale play within the DJ Basin of southeast Wyoming and northern Colorado, the Company added a second rig at the end of August and recently completed its first horizontal well in the play at Crow Valley (70 percent WI) in Weld County, Colo. The well recently underwent fracture stimulation and has tested at 24-hour rates as high as 500 bpd of oil. Production is expected to stabilize in the coming month. Marathon Oil continues to acquire seismic data and plans to drill seven to nine gross horizontal wells in the Niobrara by year end.

Carrizo Oil & Gas CRZO - In the Colorado Niobrara, we have scheduled the completion of our first well in Weld County, drilled in Section 16 of Township 9 North, Range 60 West, to begin on November 28th. We expect production test results from this well in mid-December. We still plan to drill three additional wells in Weld County by year end. So you can see that the fourth quarter should prove to be very eventful with first test results from both of these new plays.

PetroQuest Energy (PQ) -  PetroQuest Energy PQ Niobrara Shale Update -  In the Niobrara, the Company's third well, the Hester (WI–25%), is nearing total depth and completion operations are expected to commence in the second quarter. In addition, the Company recently spud its fourth well, the Davis (WI – 25%), and expects to reach total depth in approximately four weeks. Additionally, the Company's first SM Energy Company operated well (WI-12.5%) has reached total depth and is expected to be completed in the second quarter.

Voyager Oil & Gas VYOG - D-J Basin Niobrara - Voyager currently controls an interest in 44,000 net acres in the D-J Basin Niobrara play in a joint venture with Slawson Exploration. Voyager recently participated with Slawson Exploration in three previously announced Niobrara test wells in Weld County, Colorado. Two of the wells, Moonshine #1-36H and Outlaw #16-11-66H experienced significant hydrocarbon shows during drilling and have delineated an additional 22 high-grade locations to be drilled in 2011. Moonshine #1-36H produced at a peak rate of 650 barrels of oil per day and experienced stabilized production with artificial lift. Outlaw #16-11-66H, the third test well was recently completed on January 15, 2011 and is currently being tested and prepared for artificial lift.

Slawson Exploration has completed the construction of drilling pads for 22 additional Niobrara drilling locations in Weld County, Colorado. Surface casing has been set on all 22 locations which increased the term on each lease by one year. All 22 of these wells are high-grade locations and have been delineated by the Moonshine and Outlaw wells. Based on the costs of the first three wells, Slawson expects drilling and completion costs for the next 22 wells to be approximately $3.2 million per location, $1 million less than original AFE estimates. The next three Slawson Niobrara wells will be drilled in succession, starting the week of January 24th. These wells are the Joker 36-9-62, Smuggler 16-10-62 and Birds of Prey 36-10-61. These wells are in direct proximity to the Moonshine and Outlaw wells.

J.R. Reger, CEO of Voyager Oil & Gas, commented, "We are excited to participate in the D-J Basin Niobrara play with Slawson Exploration. This year we plan to begin a development stage focusing on our 22 high-graded Niobrara locations. We also plan to acquire additional acreage in the core Niobrara prospect. The Niobrara is extremely impressive as an emerging oil resource play and will only increase as techniques evolve."

GMX Resources (GMXR) - GMX Resources (GMXR) Niobrara Shale Update -

  • The Company is a non-operating participant in the Devon Energy Newton Ranches 14-3444H well located in Section 34-T24N-R64W. This well is within the N. Mustang seismic project area and will test the Niobrara Formation. GMXR has a 29.2% working interest. The well reached a total depth of 12,045' with a Hz lateral length of 4,000' and is expected to be fracture stimulated in November of 2011. Our N. Mustang Doty-Hill, Goshen County seismic shoot encompassing 135 square miles has been completed and under evaluation.
  • The Company is currently conducting a 204 square mile 3D seismic shoot that covers the majority of our Platte, Laramie and Southern Goshen County, Wyoming leases and expects to complete this shoot in the first quarter of 2012.
  • In Platte and Laramie Counties, Wyoming, GMXR owns 376 undrilled locations in 94 (640-acre) Niobrara units of which we expect to operate 70 units with 280 potential wells with an average of 64% working interest. GMXR has an average working interest of 78% in 49 of these units.
  • In Goshen County, Wyoming, GMXR has 208 undrilled 4,000' lateral locations in 52 (640-acre) Niobrara units of which we expect to operate 25 of these units containing 100 potential locations with an average working interest of 45%.
  • The Company plans to study the seismic work and the Newton Ranches 14-3444H, and use the results to begin drilling operations in the Niobrara Formation in the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2012, with one vertical test well before taking the first well Hz in the third quarter of 2012 and beginning continuous drilling shortly thereafter.

Double Eagle Petroleum (DBLE) - Double Eagle Petroleum (DBLE) Niobrara Shale - Also, exploration potential exists in its Niobrara acreage in Wyoming and Nebraska, which totals over 70,000 net acres. 

The Company commenced drilling the first Niobrara appraisal well in the Atlantic Rim on October 28, 2011, in which it has a 93% working interest. The well will be drilled vertically to approximately 9400 feet, testing multiple zones including the Shannon, Niobrara (4 potential benches over 1500 feet), Dakota and Frontier formations. The well bore design will allow for either a vertical or horizontal completion. The Company believes that the suite of logs and sidewall cores for the appraisal well will provide valuable information on the appropriate completion operations for this well and additional data for identifying future drilling locations.

The location of this well was selected after reprocessing 25 square miles of 3D seismic and evaluating log data for wells drilled in the area. The Company is also planning to shoot 15-25 square miles of additional 3D seismic in 2012 to further high-grade the deep and CBM Atlantic Rim opportunities. The Company has already identified 20 potential locations of future Niobrara wells, filed for three permits and staked 15 Niobrara locations to avoid future Bureau of Land Management permitting delays. The locations for future drilling will be refined after evaluating the data from the appraisal well and the new seismic data from the 2012 seismic program.

High Road Prospect, Powder River Basin, Wyoming

The Company will participate for a 40% before payout working interest (32% after payout) in its internally generated High Road prospect, a well targeting the Minnelusa formation at 9,700 feet. The well is approximately 20 miles southeast of Gillette, Wyoming. The well will be operated by True Oil Company and offsets a well that has produced a cumulative 575,000 barrels of oil. Drilling is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2011. This prospect has four additional locations and water flood potential if successful.

Atlas Energy (ATLS) - Atlas Energy ATLS Niobrara Shale - Average net daily production for the second quarter 2011 for the Niobrara segment was 399 thousand cubic feet equivalents per day ("mcfed").

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