Anschutz Exploration Shares Secret to Powder River Basin Success

DENVER—If investors are worried about the potential for production and profit in the Powder River Basin, all they need to do is talk to Anschutz Exploration Corp.’s president and CEO, Joe DeDominic.

Indeed, having worked in the Powder River for some 50 years, the private, independent oil and gas company has mastered—or at least, largely prevailed upon—many of the greatest challenges involved with developing the play: cost, drilling times, inconsistent well results and takeaway capacity.

Based in Denver, Anschutz currently owns leases on 475,000 net acres in the Powder River Basin with interests in 486 gross wells, four active drilling rigs and 26,000 net boe/d (75% oil). The company rounds out the top five Powder River Basin players for activity, acreage and production with four public companies: Continental Resources Inc., EOG Resources Inc., Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Devon Energy Corp.