PEDEVCO Corp., doing business as Pacific Energy Development (NYSE MKT: PED), announced Jan. 15 the production rates from its Niobara Shale wells in Weld County, Colo.

The Danville, Calif.-based company said its Loomis 2-1H horizontal well tested from the Niobrara "B" Bench target zone. The well had an initial production rate of 576 barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and 630 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d) of gas, or 681 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).

The well reached a total measured depth of 11,365 feet, with a 6,334-foot total vertical depth and 4,851-foot lateral length. It was completed with 18 frack stages.

The company has about a 49.7% net working interest in the Loomis 2-1H well, which came in under budget at below $4 million.

Its Loomis 2-3H horizontal well recently completed also tested the Niobrara "B" Bench target zone. The well had an initial production rate of 540 bbl/d of oil and 248 Mcf/d of gas, or 581 boe/d.

The well reached a total measured depth of 11,345 feet, with a 6,321-foot total vertical depth and 4,614-foot lateral length. It was completed with 18 frack stages.

The company has about a 49.7% net working interest in the Loomis 2-3H well, which came in under budget at below $4 million.

The Loomis 2-1H and 2-3H wells are the second and third new horizontal wells recently completed by the company from a single pad. The company announced Jan. 13 that its first reported well, the Loomis 2-6H, had an initial production rate of 590 boe/d.

"We are very pleased with the initial production rates from our three new Loomis wells. When we provided our shareholders with an operational update in early November, we indicated that our goal was to double the company's net production from these new wells," said Frank C. Ingriselli, chairman and CEO, in a statement.

Ingriselli said the company significantly exceeded that expectation with an increase in net production by five times based on the initial results from the three new wells.

"These wells not only validate our improved completion techniques, but also our ability to deliver on lower drilling and completion costs than budgeted. Together, these results confirm what we believe to be the significant value and potential of our acreage in the D-J Basin, a shale play that many independent experts view as having among the best rates of return in the current low oil price environment," he said.