Zavanna Energy, LLC
Denver, Colorado, United States
Zavanna Energy, LLC
!
Exploration & Production in North Dakota’s Williston Basin
About Zavanna Energy, LLC
Starting a company is full of dreams and pitfalls. We believe our name successfully captures this unique state of mind.
The word Zavanna is inspired by the word “savanna” and its reference in Bernard DeVoto’s book, Across the Wide Missouri. One only has to replace fabled lands and the riches that lie just over the horizon with words like “prospects”, “dry holes”, “DSTs”, and “discoveries” to capture the essence of Zavanna.
1994–2000
Zavanna, LLC was founded in 1994 to leverage a unique computer-based technology for oil and gas exploration, development and acquisitions. This proprietary technology was incorporated into The ExplorationStation, and was the result of a 16-year multidisciplinary effort. The power of the technology was in its unique ability to integrate several types of databases and to apply statistical analysis in a very compressed time frame.
This allowed our expert users to perform unbiased and exhaustive quantitative analysis of geological, geophysical, engineering and production data compiled for large geographically defined areas of up to 30,000 wells, or areas defined by a trend, play or concept. It gave Zavanna, and its joint venture partners, the capability to conduct new exploration in existing producing areas, unmatched by any other oil and gas company.
Zavanna pursued a strategy of forming strategic alliances, joint ventures or joint exploration agreements with industry partners designed to complement the technology. Joint ventures were formed during the late 1990s in portions of East and West Texas, the Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma, Florida, the Williston Basin of North Dakota, and Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada.
2000–2010
Zavanna concentrated its efforts in the Williston Basin of North Dakota to develop two of its significant discoveries: the Foreman Butte Field and the Briar Creek Field.
In 2005, Zavanna sold a portion of its leasehold to Brigham in an effort to develop Bakken production. In the fall of 2008, Zavanna drilled its first two operated wells, which together have produced a total cumulative value of nearly 300,000 barrels of oil.
2010–2024
Between 2011 and 2014, Zavanna helped start Liberty Oilfield Services and River Bend Oil & Gas and became part owner of 1804 LTD, a gas processing facility in North Dakota. This strategic activity fortified Zavanna’s vertically integrated operating model. Zavanna successfully implemented a new artificial lift technique in 2014, pioneering the way forward for new methods, and infill drilling began shortly thereafter in several prospects.
2024-Present
In July 2024, Zavanna, LLC partnered with funds managed by Carnelian Energy Capital, LP to recapitalize the assets and provide development capital to further develop the company’s core Williston Basin assets in North Dakota.
Description of Services
Our Vision
Zavanna Energy’s focus has never been on short-term gains or rapid success. Rather, our vision reaches much further and is the reason we choose to operate differently. We’ve achieved our success one step and one relationship at a time, taking action today that ensures a bright and sustainable tomorrow. Whether it’s engaging with the local community or leveraging innovative techniques to minimize impacts on the environment, Zavanna Energy strives for excellence in every aspect of operations.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility program is an integral part of company culture. Each year, Zavanna Energy participates in outreach and philanthropic activities designed to strengthen the local community. We work with Habitat for Humanity and Junior Achievement in Colorado and support the 4-H Youth Development Program and the Special Olympics in North Dakota. We look forward to forging new relationships for many years to come.
As our name suggests, we find inspiration in the great natural resources of North Dakota. We carefully manage our role of harnessing raw energy while imparting care and respect for the lands for which we operate as our own.
Zavanna Energy has a proven track record of not only meeting but exceeding regulatory requirements governing many of its operations. One example of this is demonstrated through Zavanna Energy’s gas capture program, which demonstrated an efficiency nearly half of the limit mandated by the North Dakota Industrial Commission in 2020. We strictly adhere to all environmental regulations and work alongside state and federal agencies to ensure compliance of our development and production activities.
All of these values work together seamlessly and naturally to create Zavanna Energy’s ESG Report.
What we do
Our Operations
Zavanna operates over 60,800 acres with an average 19,000 BOEPD, maintaining an outstanding exploratory and operational track record.
We continue to seek growth opportunities in the Rockies and Northern Mid-Continent regions, where our team possesses a wealth of operational experience.
A New Approach to An Essential Industry
Zavanna Energy’s field office is located in the Williston Basin of North Dakota. Our focus is in exploration and production, while maintaining partnerships with companies in all sectors of the industry. Zavanna Energy has consistently led the Williston Basin in terms of advanced well performance, completions design, and artificial lift enhancements.
Being a small team allows Zavanna Energy to make changes quickly and to implement new technologies we believe in, while also putting new, updated designs to old ideas. Our long-term operating model enables us to make decisions based on what is best for the well and our stakeholders. We are driven by doing what’s right over the long haul.
Well Performance
From a well performance perspective, Zavanna Energy consistently outperforms its peers in the basin. While this can be attributed to several factors, our continually evolving completion design changes are a major focus point for the completion team, and play a large role in our unmatched well results.
Artificial Lift Advancements
During the early stages of Zavanna, LLC’s Bakken development, we realized that the traditional rod-pump artificial lift method was not an optimal way of producing our wells. Through Zavanna, LLC’s partnership with Flatiron’s Midstream, we helped support 55 miles of pipeline infrastructure, which allowed us to use our existing natural gas to lift the well. Our gas is gathered, sent to the 1804 LTD plant for processing, and returned via a high-pressure line for gas lifting the well.
Further developments in our artificial lift program have led to the installation and operation of onsite gas lift compressors and jet pumps throughout the field. These methods provide the same benefit of elevated production rates compared to traditional artificial lift techniques. They also reduce operating expenses and improve utilization of processing capacity at the 1804 LTD plant.
Vertical Integration
During 2012, Zavanna, LLC partnered with Flatiron’s Midstream and formed 1804 LTD, LLC (1804). We recognized that to be able to effectuate the desired drilling program during that era, we would need help in gathering and processing our natural gas.
Like any prudent operator, we had the desire to maximize our economics by selling or reusing the natural gas that we produce, and having a long-term vision, this felt like the best approach to help us control our destiny. We found a team with over a century of combined experience to help us put our vision into place, and helped both financially and operationally place a 45 MMCFD refrigeration gas plant into the heart of Williams County, North Dakota.
Today, 1804 processes around 60 MMCFD of natural gas and has expanded beyond Zavanna Energy to other third-party producers.
Zavanna, LLC has also partnered with ARM Energy, an innovative and leading marketing group in the oil and gas industry. ARM has done an exceptional job helping both Zavanna Energy and 1804 competitively market a variety of products within the Williston Basin.
Through our deep knowledge of the upstream oil and gas industry, our strong partnerships within the midstream world, and assistance from a world-class marketing group, Zavanna Energy has a wealth of resources to tap into as we expand beyond our current horizons. We confidently manage all aspects of the energy life cycle to produce a better future for the communities we serve.
