The DJ/Niobrara Basin| April 2020
Field Overview
Located mainly in the Northeast of Colorado, the Denver-Julesburg Basin consists of five main oil-producing formations: Niobrara sections A-C, Codell, and Greenhorn. These five plays produce over 90% of Colorado’s oil/gas.
State Drilling Statistics
Active Drilling Rigs in Basin- 15
Total Rigs in Colorado- 15
Total Rigs in United States- 465
Total U.S. Rigs down 53% YTD
State Top Producers
Top Gas Producer- BP
Top Oil Producer- Extraction
Financial & Economic Updates
A Mundane Future For Colorado
Anadarkpo, PDC Energy, Extraction Oil and Gas, along with a slew of other large to mid cap Colorado operators are slashing their spending budgets to around half of what was expected a year ago. These companies are beginning to sweat as the future of Colorado oil and gas development looks brim. While already struggling with corona virus, a heated election cycle that has thrown several candidates that plan to ban hydraulic fracturing into the mix, and even more local groups, such as Colorado Uprising, continue to demand increased regulatory standards for these producers. These are large obstacles that are starting to impact most oil and gas business in the state. This environment does not leave a lot of room for mistakes. According to economists from the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business, job growth within the oil and gas industry is expected to decelerate or stagnate. Weld County is feeling these effects the most as operators continue to squeeze whatever they can out of an already limited budget.
State Highlights
COGCC Levies Largest Ever Penalty for Firestone Explosion
The 2017 Firestone explosion was a small disaster caused by odorless leaking gas that had seeped into a home from a severed gas line. Once ignited, the house was lifted off its foundation and caught on fire resulting in two fatalities. The COGCC finalized the hearing that approved an $18.25 million penalty against the Occidental subsidiary responsible. This penalty is over 11 times larger than any other penalty levied by the COGCC. The explosion was a result of flow lines that had been improperly abandoned and then put back into use before the home was constructed on top of the lines. This incident has spurred lots of change within Colorado’s oil and gas industry, including a publicly available mapping of all oil and gas operations in Colorado.
Man Shoots at Weld County Service Workers
A man from Brighton is suspected of randomly firing on workers at an oil and gas site. The Weld County Sheriff’s Office is actively searching for 31-year-old Tyler James Van Auken. Investigators say someone fired shots from a moving car on Monday afternoon, near Weld County roads 6 and 29, north of Brighton. “Our investigators have spoken to Van Auken on the phone, but he is not yet cooperating,” Joe Moylan, Public Information Officer for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, told CBS4. The Investigations Unit is actively searching for Van Auken is believed to be hiding out somewhere in the Denver metro area. Anyone with information about the suspect or Monday’s shooting is asked to call Det. Anthony Simmons at (970) 400-5376 or Investigations Sgt. Aaron Walker at (970) 400-2856.
Top Gas Producers (2020 cum)
| Rank | Company | Production (Mscf ) |
| 1 | BP | 37,045,166 |
| 2 | Extraction Oil and Gas | 31,557,054 |
| 3 | Caerus Piceance | 28,842,997 |
| 4 | Great Western | 12,066,929 |
| 5 | Laramie Energy | 11,874,673 |
Top Oil Producers (2020 cum)
| Rank | Company | Production (Bbl) |
| 1 | Extraction Oil and Gas | 5,015,262 |
| 2 | Great Western | 2,194,851 |
| 3 | HighPoint | 1,357,745 |
| 4 | Bonanza Creek Energy | 1,297,082 |
| 5 | Bayswater Exploration | 970,428 |
Refining
Colorado Production
Click above to subscribe to the RARE
PETRO Podcast Network or visit
www.rarepetro.com/newspulse
The information contained in this newsletter is provided by RARE
PETRO Engineering, PLLC via the following sources unless otherwise
noted:
www.eia.gov
www.drillinginfo.com
www.bhge.com
RARE Petro Analytics