According to the company's profile, Bronco operates rigs in North Dakota. According to the NDIC active drilling list, it looks like Bronco has about ten (10) rigs in North Dakota.
Chesapeake has said it wants to own about two-thirds of the rigs it operates under its drilling program. It will integrate Bronco into its Nomac Drilling unit, which currently owns 95 drilling rigs.Someone opined in a comment just a few days ago that Chesapeake will enter North Dakota. This is a very small piece of Chesapeake (buying Bronco) but technically that has now happened, assuming Chesapeake doesn't divest itself of some of the Bronco assets.
Right now, it appears (at least to me) that Bronco is a contract driller and does not go after permits in the Bakken itself. It will be interesting to see if Chesapeake eventually acquires acreage in the Bakken.
Bronco's profile emphasizes that it supports both oil and natural gas exploration and production companies.
CHK leased in ND. About 150,000 acres as of year end. More since then.
ReplyDeleteBronco is a good fit for CHK. CHK has 90 rigs in NOMAC, a subsidiary. CHK operates about 150 rigs, ramping to 200 by YE 2012, including NOMAC's rigs. Bronco has 22 good rigs. This will be most of the rigs CHK buys through YE 2012. They will also contract for rigs.
I suspect that the small Bronco interest in a contract driller operating in the Libya market might be sold.
You may see CHK/NOMAC in the Eagle Ford. They have a San Antonio office now.
I did not know about Chesapeake leasing in North Dakota.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking time to comment. I'm not sure how I missed Cheseapeake in the Bakken.
I hope to have more on this later.
Thank you again, for "anonymous" alerting us to CHK entering the Bakken. That is accurate (based on CHK's current corporate presentation.
ReplyDeleteBut the story is very interesting. I am not the only who missed CHK's entry into the Bakken. This from another source dated today, April 15, 2011:
http://energyconnectionsus.blogspot.com/2011/04/chesapeake-edges-its-way-into-bakken.html -- here is what that site reported in its entirety:
Chesapeake Energy is a major player in the horizontal drilling of shale plays in almost all US plays, except the Bakken. That might be starting to change with this latest development between Bronco Drilling and Chesapeake. With a price tag of $315 million, a deal has been made between the two companies. Bronco Drilling currently owns 22 rigs, these rigs are mostly in the Bakken and the Anadarko basin. Chesapeake may not own mineral acreage in the Bakken but one can bet that their involvement through the drilling services will be noticed in Bakken.
There is another source that suggests CHK bought Anschutz assets last year; I was pretty sure OXY USA bought Anschutz assets in the Bakken, but could be wrong.
Regardless, "anonymous" comment above is correct. Go to CHK's April presentation and they do say they acquired >150,000 net acres in the Bakken for an attractive price.
Very interesting.