Quicksilver, Shell unit join forces to drill Niobrara

Denver Basin in Colorado

Denver Business Journal by Cathy Proctor, Reporter – Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Major oil and gas industry players — both in the United States and internationally — continue to focus their interest on Colorado’s Niobrara shale play.

On Monday, Fort Worth-based Quicksilver Resources Inc. (NYSE: KWK) announced it had reached an agreement with SWEPI LP, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS.A) to jointly develop the two companies’ interests in Colorado’s Sand Wash Basin in the northwest part of the state.

The agreement creates an “area of mutual interest” covering more than 850,000 acres, according to the announcement. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2012, Quicksilver said.

The two companies have been probing northwest Colorado’s Niobrara shale formation for more than a year.

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