The DJ/Niobrara Basin| September 2021
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- 12
Total Rigs in Colorado- 11
Total Rigs in United States- 528
Total U.S. Rigs up 98% YTD
State Permitting Data
Permits Approved – 76
State Top Producers
Top Producer By BOE – OXY
Basin Highlights
Whiting Petroleum Wraps Up $187 Million Exit from D-J Basin
Whiting Petroleum Corp. has completed its previously announced exit from the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which includes a redetermination of its revolving credit facility borrowing base. Whiting’s D-J Basin holding was sold for a total cash consideration of $187 million as part of the exit, which was first announced in July. The holdings, which encompass 67,278 net acres in Colorado’s Weld County and produce 7,100 boe/d on a daily basis, were sold to a private corporation (51 percent oil). Whiting also announced an acquisition of Williston Basin properties, which “adjoins and complements” its existing Bakken activities in the Sanish Field of North Dakota, at the same time as the sale.
Colorado regulators move forward with controversial new rule to slash greenhouse gas emissions
Colorado air quality regulators will move forward with a controversial, first-in-the-nation rule that will limit greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas companies based on the intensity of emissions compared to production. The Air Quality Control Commission voted to hold a hearing in December on the proposed “greenhouse gas intensity target” rule, which would take effect in 2023, despite resistance from certain local politicians and environmental groups. The Air Pollution Control Division’s proposed regulation would establish an emission limit per 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent (defined as oil plus natural gas) produced. There would be a target for large operators and a less restrictive one for small operators.
KP Kauffman Receives Second Largest Fine Ever From COGCC
CAfter the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission determined that oil and gas operator KP Kauffman had engaged in “a pattern of infractions,” the company’s fines were increased to $2 million, the second-highest penalty ever imposed by the commission. The commission fined the corporation $1.8 million in August for 22 infractions at seven locations, but the COGCC staff argued at a hearing this week that the company’s mistakes were not isolated instances and that a “aggravating” multiplier should be imposed. The state’s largest operator, Occidental Petroleum Corp., was fined $18.25 million in 2020 for a 2017 house explosion in Firestone that killed two individuals.
Top CO Permitting By Operator
| Rank | Company | Permits Approved |
| 1 | Nickel Road Operating | 22 |
| 2 | TEP Energy | 17 |
| 3 | OXY | 14 |
Top Producers by BOE
| Rank | Company | BOE Production (mmBOE) (7/21) |
| 1 | OXY | 46.4 |
| 2 | PDC Energy | 36.7 |
| 3 | Chevron | 31.3 |
| 4 | Extraction Oil and Gas | 18.9 |
| 5 | Crestone Peak Resources | 13.3 |
Rig Count
Colorado Production
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