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.
About Chesapeake Energy Corporation​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Chesapeake Energy Corporation is the second-largest producer of natural gas, the 11th largest producer of oil and natural gas liquids and the most active driller of new wells in the U.S. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company's operations are focused on discovering and developing unconventional natural gas and oil fields onshore in the U.S. Chesapeake owns leading positions in the Eagle Ford, Utica, Granite Wash, Cleveland, Tonkawa, Mississippi Lime and Niobrara unconventional liquids plays and in the Marcellus, Haynesville/Bossier and Barnett unconventional natural gas shale plays. The company also owns substantial marketing and oilfield services businesses through its subsidiaries Chesapeake Energy Marketing, Inc. and Chesapeake Oilfield Services, L.L.C.​
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