Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy and CNOOC Limited of China have entered into a partnership agreement in the Niobrara Shale-focused Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin in northeast Colorado and the Power River Basin in southeast Wyoming.

Billings, Mont.-based Voyager Oil & Gas recently provided an update on its Bakken Shale and Niobrara Shale operations.

Denver-based Bonanza Creek Energy Inc., a newly formed independent oil and gas company, said Jan. 7 that an investor group led by West Face Capital Inc., a Toronto-based investment management firm, together with company management and the D. E. Shaw group, completed an equity financing of $265 million on Dec. 23.

STW Resources Holding Corp. has formed a joint venture, Water Reclamation Partners LLC, with privately held Aqua Verde LLC, to provide independent, cost-effective water solutions for oil and gas producers, municipalities, and environmental remediation projects.

As the company works to complete wells in the Niobrara and Marcellus shales, Rex Energy Corp. has added John J. Zak to the board of directors.

Investors will continue to abandon natural gas sensitive areas and refocus on oil, specifically the Niobrara, noted a September 29 report from Jefferies & Co. Inc.

Voyager Oil & Gas Inc. has issued $15 million in 12% senior secured notes to raise money for drilling and development of the company’s position in the Denver-Julesberg Basin Niobrara formation and the Williston Basin Bakken/Three Forks formation.

Continental Resources Inc. has increased its capital expenditure budget to $1.3 billion from $850 million to accelerate its drilling program and to increase its acreage positions in the Bakken and Woodford shale plays.

Continental Resources Inc. has increased its 2010 capital expenditure budget to from $850 million to $1.3 billion to accelerate its drilling program and to increase its acreage positions in strategic US shale plays including the Bakken, Woodford, and Niobrara.

Voyager Oil & Gas Inc. signed a $7.5 million exploration and development agreement with Slawson Exploration Co. Inc. to develop Slawson's 48,000 net acres in the Denver-Julesberg Basin Niobrara Formation in Weld County, Colorado.

Petroleum Development Corp. (Nasdaq:PETD) has entered a purchase agreement to increase its acreage position in the Wattenberg Niobrara to 70,000 net acres, 92% of which are held by production.