DENVER—The Niobrara is following the trend of many unconventional shale plays in the U.S.— costs are down, and thanks to the technology that’s continuing to evolve, production and completion efficiencies are up.

Scott Reasoner, chief operating officer at PDC Energy said that the Denver-based company owns about 96,000 acres in the core of the company’s Wattenberg Field prospect with estimated potential of about 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bboe). PDC acquired theses reserves from a series of downspacing efforts and by identifying other productive zones.

“We feel like the rates of return here are competitive with any of the other plays in the basins in North America,” he told an audience at Hart Energy’s recent DUG Bakken & Niobrara conference. “In the D-J Basin, it’s important to be in Wattenberg Field because the Niobrara isn’t the same everywhere.”

According to Reasoner, the Niobrara gas -oil ratio variation in the Wattenberg is critical, with varying liquids content across the core areas. The inner core area is about 45% gas and 55% liquids, and this is the area with the highest ratio.

Reasoner presented a gross EUR analysis of 2,500 wells in the Wattenberg Field core area. The inner core had a three-phase (P50) industry average of 600 Mboe, the middle core had 460 Mboe and the outer core had 311,000 Mboe.

PDC is drilling long laterals with an average length of 7,000 ft that are tapping Niobrara A, B, and C benches, as well as Codell. Its average stage length for fracturing went from 200 ft to 170 ft, which, according to Reasoner, has resulted in an approximate 30% increase in the production of the wells.

“We’ve also switched over from sliding sleeve to plug-and-perf and we don’t plan to go back,” he said.

For 2017, PDC is planning to drill about 70% of the wells as medium- or extended-lateral ventures. He also noted that they are down to 1,100 pounds of proppant per foot and have decreased spud-to-spud drill times to 12 days for extended (two-mile) long laterals and seven days for one-mile long laterals.

Reasoner also said that the company has tested 145-ft frack spacing with good results.

“If that’s successful, we may test 100-ft spacings this year,” he said.

Nick Spence, SRC Energy’s COO of development, said that SRC has about 60,000 acres, also in the greater Wattenberg area. Its contiguous property acreage provides the company with the ability to drill longer laterals, which enhances the company’s economics.

“We can drill laterals that are about 1.5 to 2miles long,” Spence said.

SRC’s 2017 development plans include drilling a gross of 68 mid-length laterals (up to 7,500 ft) and 34 long laterals (up to 10,000 ft) in the Greeley Crescent development area. The company also plans to complete 52 mid-length laterals and 43 long laterals (gross). According to Spence, it takes them about six to eight days to complete a mid-length well and seven to 10 days to complete a long lateral.

In 2017 they will have two operating pads, Bestway and Fagerberg. From their Evans pad where they are currently underway, there will be 22 wells drilled, 13 long laterals and nine extended-reach wells, which will have a length of up to 12,000 ft. Evans pad wells look to tap four Niobrara A zones, six Niobrara B zones and six Niobrara C zones. In the Codell, six zones will be drilled.

“Because the Niobrara is variable across the play, we plan to customize every frack stage according to what the rock tells us it needs.”

For takeaway, SRC is shipping products through the Grand Parkway system, which began operation in 2016. “We’ve also contracted with Noble Midstream Services for oil gathering and produced water systems. Besides the efficiency of being connected to a modern gathering system we’re getting trucks off the road, which is really important in environmentally conscious Colorado. In 2017, we plan to ship up to 11,200 barrels of oil per day.”

Larry Prado can be reached at lprado@hartenergy.com.