Colorado may not be the first state that comes to mind when you think about oil. But it is a significant producer. The state pumps about 400,000 barrels of oil every day. Most of that comes from a single basin northeast of Denver. Colorado's oil story is really the story of one place: the Denver-Julesburg Basin, also called the DJ Basin.
Where Is the DJ Basin?
The DJ Basin sits in the northeastern corner of Colorado and extends slightly into Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas. It is a relatively shallow basin compared to the Permian or the Bakken. The main oil-bearing formations sit between 6,000 and 9,000 feet underground. The basin covers a large area — roughly the same size as the state of Iowa — but most of the oil production is concentrated in a central area called the Wattenberg Field.
What Is the Wattenberg Field?
The Wattenberg Field is one of the largest oil and gas fields in the United States. It sits mostly in Weld County, Colorado — a flat agricultural area north of Denver. Weld County produces more oil than most U.S. states. The Wattenberg Field has been producing oil and gas since the 1970s. It originally produced mainly natural gas. But after horizontal drilling and fracking became common around 2011, oil production from the Niobrara Shale inside Wattenberg took off rapidly.
What Is the Niobrara Shale?
The Niobrara is the main oil-producing formation in Colorado. It is a chalky shale that formed about 85 million years ago at the bottom of an inland sea. The Niobrara is actually made of several layers called "benches" — the A Bench, B Bench, and C Bench. Drillers can target each bench separately with horizontal wells. The B Bench is usually the best oil producer, but all three benches are actively drilled in the core of the DJ Basin.
Below the Niobrara sits another important formation: the Codell Sandstone. The Codell is a tight sandstone that holds oil and gas. Many DJ Basin operators drill both Niobrara and Codell wells on the same pad to maximize recovery from a single surface location.
Who Are the Big Operators?
Civitas Resources (formerly Bonanza Creek and Extraction Oil & Gas, which merged) is the largest oil producer in Colorado. Chevron is a major operator in the Wattenberg Field through its former Noble Energy assets. PDC Energy (now part of Chevron) was also a top producer. Several mid-size independent companies operate in the basin as well.
What Are the Production Numbers?
Colorado's oil production has grown substantially over the past decade. In 2012, the state produced about 100,000 barrels per day. By 2019 it had reached a peak of about 520,000 barrels per day. Production pulled back in 2020 and has since stabilized in the 380,000 to 420,000 barrel-per-day range. Natural gas production from the DJ Basin is also significant — Colorado is a top-10 natural gas state.
What Does This Mean for Exploration?
The DJ Basin has a long well history, and the COGCC publishes all of it publicly. Formation tops, production data, and completion reports are searchable online. ScoutTickets.io aggregates DJ Basin well records so you can evaluate any Colorado prospect quickly — whether you are looking at the Niobrara benches, the Codell, or deeper conventional targets.