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On the morning of June 3, 1969, 74 American sailors died when the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans was cut in two by an Australian aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. By Phil Smith and Mal Lancaster Niobrara is a very small town in Nebraska--so small it doesn't have a cinema, and the locals could not have flocked to see Saving Private Ryan. But Niobrara has a memorial outside its library dedicated to the three Sage brothers, who were the first family group allowed to serve together on a U.S. warship after World War II. Radarman 3rd Class Gregory...

Apr 8, 2014, 6:20am MDT Updated: Apr 8, 2014, 7:52am MDT Crude oil potential from Colorado's DJ Basin gets bigger (a lot bigger)   Enlarge Photo Comstock Images via Thinkstock .     Cathy ProctorReporter- Denver Business JournalEmail  |  Facebook  |  Twitter The estimated amount of crude oil and other liquids that could be pumped from Colorado’s booming Denver-Julesburg Basin has grown to more than 4 billion barrels.And that’s just using estimates from the two biggest oil and gas companies — Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) — working in the DJ Basin, which...

Here is America's Next Great Shale Play By Matt DiLallo | More Articles | Save For Later June 1, 2014 | Comments (0)   Photo credit: Chesapeake Energy  Chesapeake Energy  (NYSE: CHK  )  recently held its annual investor day. Among the many topics the company discussed was its emerging position in the Powder River Basin in the Rocky Mountains, which it sees becoming a world-class asset. That enthusiasm isn't just being conveyed by Chesapeake Energy. Earlier this year, EOG Resources  (NYSE: EOG  )  announced that it was adding four new Rocky Mountain oil plays to its drilling inventory while Devon Energy  (NYSE: DVN  )  noted that it was drilling...

 SEPTEMBER 2013 Vol. 234 No.9 ShaleTech NIOBRARA INDEPENDENTS UNRAVEL PLAY, HIKE LIQUIDS PRODUCTION JIM REDDEN, Contributing Editor A rig drills for oil in Colorado’s liquids-rich basins against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountain range. Source: Colorado Geological Survey. While the byzantine Niobrara shale that underlies a substantial portion of the U.S. Rockies, and beyond, is not for the technologically skittish, recent production data suggest that the resolute independents, who dominate the liquids-rich play, are steadily getting a handle on its unrivaled geological complexities.Even though the multi-horizon Niobrara may have a long way to go, to reach its earlier billing as...

Anadarko Focusing on Onshore U.S. Operations  Though Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC  ) is well known for its international asset portfolio, which includes sizable stakes in the Jubilee field off Ghana's shore, the El Merk project in Algeria's Sahara Desert, and exploratory prospects offshore various African countries, the company's onshore U.S. operations account for nearly 90% of its total production and 60% of this year's capital spending.In fact, Anadarko is so optimistic about its growth runway in the U.S. that it recently sold some international assets to help fund its onshore U.S. drilling program. Let's take a closer look.Mozambique sale to fund...

Could This Oil Field Be the Next Bakken? Business is rockin' in the Bakken. Within the next year output is expected to surpass one million barrels per day, up from almost nothing ten years ago. Such growth has been a boon for investors as evident in the share price performance of companies like Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR), Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG), and Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS). But the hunt is now on for the next great American shale play. And one formation in particular just might have the potential to rival the Bakken: the Colorado Niobrara.A spotty track record Readers...

The Niobrara Shale Play – the Next Bakken? [ 0 ] February 1, 2013 The Niobrara shale formation extends across northeastern Colorado, northwestern Kansas, southwestern Nebraska and southeastern Wyoming.  The play ranges in thickness from 275-400 feet deep, with three primary carbonate-rich benches that average 10-25 feet thick with 5-10% porosity. Within the Niobrara, oil and natural gas are found at 3,000-14,000 feet beneath the earth’s surface.  O&G producers tap these resources through both vertical and horizontal wells typically drilled at 7,000-8,000 feet with variable geopressures. To date, most of the Niobrara’s O&G development focuses on the Denver-Julesburg Basin (“DJ...

SmallerLarger Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services Expand Photo A cloud formation fills the sky as an oil pump is silhouetted in front of it near the town of Hereford on the northeastern plains of Weld County. Drilling operations throughout northern Colorado are suspected to only have tapped into a fraction of the oil and natural gas in the region. Tribune file photo | A cloud formation fills the sky as an oil pump is silhouetted in front of it near the town of Hereford on the northeastern plains of Weld County. Drilling operations throughout northern Colorado...

WPX ENERGY MAKES DISCOVERY IN NIOBRARA FORMATION Results Build Upon Previous Mancos Success TULSA, Okla. – WPX Energy’s (NYSE:WPX) successful Niobrara shale discovery in western Colorado has the potential to significantly increase the company’s natural gas reserves and daily production in ensuing years. The discovery well produced an initial high of 16 million cubic feet per day at a flowing pressure of 7,300 pounds per square inch. The well has since been choked back substantially to optimize reservoir performance and ensure maximum resource recovery. Over the past 30 days, it produced at an average rate of 12 million cubic feet...