Carroll County – The Center of Ohio’s Utica Shale Boom

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Carroll County, OH is at the center of Ohio’s Utica Shale drilling boom. There have been 127 drilling permits issued in Ohio to tap both oil and gas in the Utica and Marcellus Shales. One-third of those permits are for sites in Carroll County.

Four wells already are producing oil and gas, and 16 are in various stages of “completion,” meaning they have been drilled; are being drilled; or have been “fracked,” a process in which millions of gallons of water mixed with chemicals and sand are injected down wells to break apart shale and free trapped oil and gas.

There are an additional 23 well sites in planning stages.

Although the flurry of activity indicates Ohio’s drilling boom is well under way, industry officials say this is only the beginning.

“In my opinion, we’re in our infancy,” said Ken Mariana, CEO of Houston-based Enervest Operating Corp., which holds 10 permits to drill in Carroll County.

Drilling companies still are testing the Utica shale to see how much oil and gas could be produced, Mariana said. “It will probably take several hundred wells to fully understand or better understand this.”*

*The Columbus Dispatch (Feb 20, 2012) – It’s only starting in Carroll County