In another high-stakes move related to the Niobrara shale formation, Anadarko Petroleum announced it reached an agreement to purchase British Petroleum’s 93 percent stake in the 195-million-cubic-feet-per-day Wattenberg processing plant.
    The deal comes in at a reported $576 million, which transfers Anadarko’s stake to full ownership of the plant.
    “With Anadarko volumes representing about 70 percent of the current throughput, the Wattenberg plant is a strategic acquisition that further aligns our midstream and upstream assets in one of our expanding core areas,” said Chuck Meloy, Anadarko’s senior vice president of worldwide operations. “We are the largest producer in the Wattenberg field, with current sales volumes of approximately 63,000 BOE (barrels of oil equivalent) per day, and our early efforts in the emerging horizontal Niobrara play are very encouraging. With the anticipated growth in the DJ Basin, we expect this acquisition to improve field recoveries, allow for future expansion and capture efficiencies that enable us to reduce operating expenses.”
    Earlier this month, Andarko announced intentions to operate up to eight rigs and drill some 450 wells in the Wattenberg field in Northern Colorado, across Weld, Adams, Boulder, Broomfield and Larimer counties.
    “The Wattenberg Plant, when combined with Western Gas Partners, LP’s ownership position in the Fort Lupton plant and the recently acquired Platte Valley plant, gives Anadarko and other area producers exceptional midstream options for development within the Wattenberg field and growth in the greater DJ Basin. Given our flexibility to offer this asset to WES, it is possible that we will recapture the initial and subsequent capital investments in the future, while continuing to benefit from operational improvements in the basin,” added Meloy.
    Anadarko has approximately 900,000 net acres in the DJ Basin. The company was expecting to be running a total of nine operated rigs, including three horizontal rigs, in the basin by the end of March.
    The transaction is expected to close by mid-year.