Cowboy Country Turns Oil-Basin Bargain Versus Pricey Permian
- Even as drilling rights rise, Powder River Basin remains cheap
- Wyoming shale draws $600 million from Chesapeake, EOG, Devon
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A year ago, it cost family-owned Kirkwood Oil & Gas LLC a relative pittance to secure oil-drilling rights in the Powder River Basin, the lonely, scrubby corner of northeast Wyoming known mostly as a home to cattle ranches and coal mines. Today, it’s a different story.
Drilling permits on federal land that went for less than $1,000 an acre now fetch as much as $17,000, and the region has become one of the hottest prospects for new U.S. shale supply. Kirkwood has a lot more competition amid the sagebrush and rolling hills, including private-equity firms from Houston and big explorers like Chesapeake Energy Corp. and EOG Resources Inc.