The Powder River Basin | January 2022
Field Overview
The Powder River Basin, known for its coal deposits, is located in Southeast Montana and Northeast Wyoming. The basin is named so because it is drained by the Powder River. Major cities in the area include Gillete and Sheridan, Wyoming and Miles City, Montana. There is a recent resurgence in oil and gas production as a result of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. This resurgence is occurring mainly in the Wyoming part of the basin, which is historically known as the source of the basin’s oil.
State Drilling Statistics
Total Rigs in Wyoming- 15 (-)
Total Rigs in United States – 610 (
+24)
Total U.S. Rigs 59% YTD
State Permitting Data
Permits Approved – 30
Powder River Top Producer
Top Producer by Oil – Continental Resources
Top Producer by Gas – Continental Resources
Basin Highlights
Continental Resources Boosts Its Powder River Footprint
Continental continues to increase their position in the Powder River basin with a recent acquisition of ~85,000 acres apparently rich in condensate. Continental continues to be a strong force in North Dakota and Oklahoma where they are the number one producer. Continental CEO William Berry has been questioned about his lack of transparency concerning Continental’s merger and acquisition plan as well as purchase price of recent acreage deals. Berry has responded “the Powder is in early innings. People are still trying to understand it. Again, for competitive reasons, I think the best way to describe our thoughts on this is that it’s consistent with our expectations.”
Chesapeake Energy sells Wyoming’s Powder River Basin assets for $450 million
Chesapeake Energy Corp. has announced their recent plans to sell their Powder River assets to Continental Resources for $450 million. Chesapeake isn’t sitting still though, they are simultaneously selling their Powder assets and purchasing Chief E&D Holdings LP for a reported $2.6 billion cash. The financial times noted the deals help Chesapeake to lean back towards being a top gas producer rather than an oil producer.
COPL Makes Significant Wyoming Oil Find
An operator in the Powder River basin of Wyoming, Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited, has announced their discovery of a light oil reservoir holding approximately 1.5 billion to 1.9 billion barrels of oil. COPL currently holds the rights to ~85% of the land above the recently discovered reservoir. The company has already begun the development process of the reservoir by applying for permits for several horizontal wells.
Operators With Most Permits in WY
| Rank | Company | Permits Approved |
| 1 | Wexpro Company | 12 |
| 2 | Anschutz Exploration | 7 |
| 3 | Ultra Resources | 5 |
| 4 | Devon Energy | 3 |
| 5 | Hudson | 1 |
Top Producers Oil
| Change | Rank | Company | mbbls Production (01/22) |
| – | 1 | Continental Resources | 325.8 |
| – | 2 | Rockies Resources | 65.4 |
| – | 3 | Bright Rock | 30.2 |
| – | 4 | Titan Exploration | 22.3 |
| – | 5 | Signal Hill | 16.4 |
Top Producers Gas
| Change | Rank | Company | Mcf Production (01/22) |
| – | 1 | Continental Resources | 509.7 |
| – | 2 | Rockies Resources | 131.3 |
| – | 3 | Titan Exploration | 78.6 |
| – | 4 | Bright Rock | 26.3 |
| – | 5 | Century | 15.7 |
Rig Count
Wyoming Oil Production
Wyoming Gas Production
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PETRO Engineering, PLLC via the following sources unless otherwise
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www.eia.gov
www.drillinginfo.com
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