American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018 - 94

SpecialReport: Rockies Profile

PDC Energy is operating three drilling rigs and one full-time frac crew in the DenverJulesburg Basin's Wattenberg Field, where it expects to drill 135-150 wells this year. According to President and Chief Executive Officer Bart Brookman, PDC is averaging 10
days spud-to-spud on its two-mile laterals, which cost $3.5 million to drill and complete.

what Brookman describes as the core
Wattenberg, which contains enhanced
rock properties, and where there has been
extensive vertical development. These
enhanced geologic properties lend themselves to consistency in the horizontal
program, he says.
"Virtually all of our acreage is held
by production, too," Brookman continues,
"so that gives us a lot of operational flexibility."
The company spudded 35 wells and
turned 29 gross operated wells on line in
the Wattenberg in the first quarter. Those
wells averaged 42 percent oil, 37 percent
natural gas and 21 percent natural gas
liquids, according to Brookman. He says
the wells are targeting primarily the Nio-

brara formation with the Codell as a secondary target. PDC is drilling an average
of 20 wells a section.
PDC Energy drilled its first two-mile
lateral two years ago. Today, Bookman
reports, the company is focusing almost
entirely on 1.5- and 2.0-mile laterals. It
has been able to do that because of a
strategic effort to consolidate its leasehold,
he says.
"Three or four years ago, our acreage
was scattered," he reveals. "Through
swaps and acquisitions, we were able to
put together very large contiguous blocks.
That gives us more opportunities to drill
1.5- and 2.0-mile laterals, which helps
with capital efficiency."
PDC calls its three contiguous blocks

DCP Midstream's Mewbourn 3 cryogenic natural gas processing
plant, shown here, will come on line in August near Greeley, Co. It
is the company's 10th Denver-Julesburg Basin plant and will add
200 million cubic feet a day of gathering and processing capacity.

94 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

the Prairie, Kersey and Plains areas, all
of which are located in the inner or
middle core of the Wattenberg. Depending
on where it is drilling, the oil mix varies
from 30 percent to 75 percent, according
to Brookman.
He adds that PDC Energy has been
able to maintain its cost structure of $2.5
million for wells with 1.0-mile laterals,
$3.5 million for 1.5-mile laterals and
$4.5 million for 2.0-mile laterals.
Brookman says the company will drill
as many lateral feet this year with three
rigs as would have required seven or
eight rigs five years ago, exemplifying
the drilling and completion efficiency
that it has attained.
"We continue to make small changes,"
he assures, listing technical design, improved
bits and downhole assembly, better steering,
and rig automation as reasons for the improved efficiency. "It is technology. That
is what our industry is great at. These improvements are technology driven."
Midstream Expansion
Rapid development of the DJ Basin
has met some midstream constraints, but
Brookman says he believes "substantial
relief on line pressure" is near.
DCP Midstream's Mewbourn 3 cryogenic
natural gas processing plant will come on
line in August near Greeley, Co. That will
be the company's 10th plant in the DJ
Basin, and will add 200 million cubic feet
a day of gathering and processing capacity,
increasing DCP's total capacity in the basin
to 1.050 billion cubic feet a day.
"That is the first step in providing
substantial high-line pressure relief,"

President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Wouter van Kempen says DCP anticipates adding 500 MMcf/d of processing capacity in the basin over the next 12 months and 1.5 billion cubic
feet a day over the next several years.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018

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