Participants of this organization make available for lease mineral rights acreage in the Las Animas Arch region as a group. The acreage in our database is open to lease offers. If you have an interest in leasing mineral rights in our area, please contact us.

Overview:

Southeast Colorado is the crossroads of multiple North American tight oil plays.  This is a region where geology has identified stacked oil plays as well as recoverable gas deposits.  New wells drilled in 2012 demonstrate that extraction technology can be tuned to generate significantly productive commercial yields from the underlying strata.

In Southeast Colorado, our core counties of Cheyenne, Kiowa and southern Kit Carson have been a quiet resource play for three generations.  Holdings in our database extend to Lincoln, Kit Carson Counties. Vertical drilling of the underlying Las Animas Arch  has been a consistent profit engine for speculative exploration, development and resource companies.

Tight oil and gas prospects have been explored and developed in Kansas, Oklahoma, in the Bakken, Eagle Ford and the Denver Basin.  Carbonate-bearing shale and lime layers to the north, south and east in these profitable plays also extend through the Las Animas Arch region of SE Colorado.  Here, there is the real possibility of targeting multiple pay zones at several depths, either concurrently or sequentially.  At the same time, new conventional reservoirs are still being identified in vertical drilling.

New horizontal wells in Colorado’s Lincoln County and in western Kansas were drilled and flow tested in the 4th quarter of 2012  The output of these wells has proved commercial viability of the region.  Southeastern Colorado is no longer a wildcat play. Forty new well applications were filed in Cheyenne County and Kiowa County in the 4th quarter of 2012.

Surface and mineral right owners in Southeast Colorado can work with resource developers to ensure efficient, mutually beneficial agreements to promote profitable recovery and employ industry best practices that safeguard the iconic beauty and quality of life of the region.

Dec 3, 2012 Sharecast reports on Nighthawk’s Eastern Colorado successes:

Mississippian formation is a new oil play in this area

As regards the first reservoir, Stephen Gutteridge, Chairman of Nighthawk, said: “(…) This discovery opens up the possibility of further Mississippian potential which is a very active play in Western Kansas, North Western Oklahoma, Texas panhandle and further east in Colorado, but is a completely new oil play in this part of the Denver-Julesberg basin and potentially adds substantial value to our large acreage position in this area.”

One million acres were leased in southeast Colorado in the spring of 2012 as part of this emerging shale oil play.

 

Geology:

USGS diagram identificates
Las Animas oil and gas bearing strata

New horizontal wells in Colorado’s Lincoln County and in western Kansas were drilled and flow tested in the 4th quarter of 2012  The output of these wells have proven the region’s commercial viability.  Southeastern Colorado is no longer a wildcat play. Forty new well applications were filed in Cheyenne and Kiowa Counties in the 4th quarter of 2012.

The Las Animas Arch energy play is based on similarities between the Mississippian oil-bearing strata of the Las Animas Arch and the better-known, high-producing San Marcos Arch. The Las Animas Arch is a northeasterly-cast anticline that separates the Denver-Julesberg Basin from the Hugoton Embayment.  In this region, the Mississippian strata are supported at a depth attainable with current technology. Development and production of the Mississippian in Kansas and Oklahoma has discovered similar geologic characteristics and proven commercially rewarding. Optimal production is achieved on structural closures as well as stratigraphic traps.

Logs of recent drilling in the Las Animas Arch confirm earlier USGS core logs (see diagram at right) that show multiple, viable, stacked Pennsylvanian and Mississippian carbonate-bearing plays.

New wells drilled closer in to the Las Animas Arch geology has born out the expectation that the Pennsylvanian and Mississipian strata are, in fact, commercially viable, as predicted. Industry representatives describe that:

“The Steamboat Hansen 8-10 well has been highly successful, confirming the potential of the Cherokee shale in our northernSmoky Hill project with the bonus of a new and potentially sizeable Mississippian oil discovery.
This discovery opens up the possibility of further Mississippian potential which is a very active play in Western Kansas, North Western Oklahoma, Texas panhandle and further east in Colorado, but is a completely new oil play in this part of the Denver-Julesberg basin and potentially adds substantial value to our large acreage position in this area.”

Oil-rich Pennsylvanian Cherokee hosts productive wells throughout Eastern Colorado. The Pennsylvanian section evidences several productive zones. Historically, Morrow channel sands at the base of the Pennsylvanian have been highly productive in perched settings. Morrow-targeted wells average 300,000 barrels of production, but may range as high as 1,200,000 barrels of oil from a well.
Las Animas Arch Geology as logged at a Phillips Petroleum site

 

Expedited Resource Acquisition Opportunity

Unlike other petroleum resource fields under development and production in eastern states, land holdings in southeastern Colorado are expansive.  The result is that relatively few landholders need to be signed to acquire substantial acreage or to form a drilling unit.  Similarly through the SECORO network, resource developers can establish a broad-based foothold in the region with relatively little paperwork, speeding up the track from initial contact to drilling permits.  This opens the possibility to quickly make up ground with competitors who are already pushing hard to set up drilling units in southeast Colorado.

Surface and mineral right owners in Southeast Colorado can work with resource developers to ensure efficient, mutually beneficial agreements to promote profitable recovery and employ industry best practices that safeguard the beauty and quality of life of the region.

SECORO can facilitate communication with the mineral owners who participate in this network.

SECORO does not represent, advise or direct any mineral owner or group of owners.  SECORO provides no legal advise, does not affiliate itself with any political group, corporate entity, organization or point of view and accepts no contributions or donations.