Ultra Petroleum

Title: Ultra Petroleum Category: Energy Clicks: 4 Added on: Jun 16, 2012 PageRank: 0/10

Ultra Petroleum is an oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, acquisition, operation, and development of natural gas and oil properties. The main competitors of the company are Royal Dutch Shell plc, the Exxon Mobil Corporation, and ConoxoPhillips. Ultra Petroleum is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under UPL. The company has offices in Denver, Colorado, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, Pinedale, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas. Its main subsidiaries are the Sino-American Energy Corporation, Ultra Resources, Inc., and the UP Energy Corporations.

Ultra Petroleum was established in 1979 in Canada and acquired Wyoming interests in 1996. The company purchased land in the Rockies which involved sections rich in natural gas. In 1997, Ultra Petroleum was the first gas and oil company to implement multi-frac technology at the Lance formation. At this time, the company operated under a farm-out agreement with Questar Corp. By the mid-2000, the company was stable enough as to consider further growth. The spacing of wells was reduced in the Jonah Field, which doubled the volume of the company’s reserves. Ultra Petroleum also began to drill development wells, which was marked with successes in its Wyoming drilling operations.

At present, Ultra Petroleum owns acreage around and in the Pinedale and Jonah gas fields found in the Greater Green River. The company has interest in about 1,300 wells, operating more than 60 percent of the land position. Ultra Petroleum has expanded across the US, with a focus on the Marcellus Shale opportunity. In the Appalachian basin, the company undertook a drilling program, which spanned 30 miles north to south. The drilling program helped assess almost all of the legacy area.

The company has leases in five counties in the central and northern parts of Transylvania – Tioga, Potter, Bradford, Sullivan, and Lycoming. Ultra Petroleum has 100 percent interest in a land position of 30,000 acres in Potter and Tioga counties. Aiming to boost its resource potential, the company bought 160,000 acres in the Northeast, with 50/50 working interest. After this acquisition, Ultra Petroleum owns about 250,000 acres, part of the Marcellus Shale.