explainer: what is the DJ basin?

The Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin is a large geological formation in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming, extending into parts of Nebraska, South Dakota and Kansas.

Containing vast amounts of natural gas and oil beneath its tight rocks, the basin continues to produce more than 70 years after its discovery.

Colorado is the fifth-largest crude oil-producing state in the U.S., trailing behind Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota and Alaska.

The DJ Basin accounts for most of that production; nearly 90% of Colorado crude comes from Weld County, one of five counties the basin spans in the state.

Chevron’s focus within the DJ Basin is the liquids-rich area within Weld County, where we have access to approximately 600,000 net acres.

Our presence in the region was expanded through the acquisition of PDC Energy Inc., which includes 275,000 net acres in the DJ Basin.

We estimate production to reach approximately 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day through the acquisition.

In Colorado, we use technology and innovation to help protect the environment and to safely and responsibly develop the lower carbon energy that Coloradans need. In the DJ Basin we are:

• Eliminating more than 152 million truck miles and associated emissions by using pipelines instead of trucks to transport oil and natural gas from our Mustang development area.
• Using tankless production facilities that reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90% and shrink our surface footprint by more than 95% compared to legacy designs using vertical wells.