The Niobrara Shale is a geologic formation of sedimentary rock that contains oil and natural gas. Much of Chesapeake’s acreage in the liquid-rich play is located in the Powder River Basin in East-central Wyoming and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Southeast Wyoming and North-central Colorado. The productive area is roughly 120 miles wide and 125 miles long in the Powder River Basin and roughly 100 miles wide and 240 miles long in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, both with an average thickness of 300 feet.
Oil and natural gas drilling in the Niobrara Shale became economically feasible for development when advanced drilling and completion techniques, such as horizontal drilling coupled with hydraulic fracturing, were developed. Chesapeake wells in the Niobrara range in depth from approximately 7,000 to 13,000 feet below the surface.​