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Leasing in Columbiana County Picks Up; Bonuses & Royalties Down

Once upon a time (roughly 12 years ago), Chesapeake Energy and other shale drillers were leasing property in Columbiana County, OH, in deals that often paid $6,000 per acre for a signing bonus and granted 20% royalties for any oil or gas produced. According to an analysis by the Youngstown Business Journal, those days are long gone. However, many of those original leases have expired, and there is a new push to re-lease in the county, says a Youngstown attorney specializing in oil and gas. Just don’t expect big signing bonuses and royalty rates.
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Pin Oak Energy Partners Shops 22,000 Ohio Utica Acres

Pin Oak Energy Partners, a relatively young Marcellus/Utica driller based in Akron, OH (privately owned), has hired Detring Energy Advisors to market some of the company’s Utica Shale assets. The assets include 22,000 acres in Harrison and Tuscarawas counties, Ohio. According to the company’s website, Pin Oak owns some 317,000 net acres with some 207,000 “net deep acres” with Utica/Point Pleasant and Marcellus potential. Pin Oak owns and operates over 3,300 producing wells–most of them conventional, some shale.
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Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Jan 18-22

For the second week in a row, two of three M-U drilling states received permits to drill new shale wells. Pennsylvania scored 10 permits to drill new shale wells last week. Ohio received no new permits for Utica wells (second dry week in row). West Virginia received 4 new permits to drill new shale wells last week.
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Pin Oak Buys Laurel Mountain Pipe System from Williams/Chevron

Pin Oak Midstream, a subsidiary of Pin Oak Energy Partners, a relatively young Marcellus/Utica driller based in Akron, OH, has purchased most of the pipeline assets of Laurel Mountain Midstream for an undisclosed amount. The assets include 1,050 miles of natural gas-gathering pipelines and five compressor stations located in three Pennsylvania counties.
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Pin Oak Already Planning 1st Utica Well on Protege Acreage in OH

Yesterday MDN told you that Pin Oak Energy Partners has purchased Protégé Energy’s 10,000 acres of Utica Shale leases (and other assets) located in Washington and Noble counties in Ohio, and Wood County in West Virginia (see Pin Oak Buys Protege Energy’s Utica Assets in Ohio, W.V.). It didn’t take long for Pin Oak to form their first drilling unit in Washington County, called Big Red. We have the details on where it is, and which properties are included.
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Pin Oak Buys Protege Energy’s Utica Assets in Ohio, W.V.

Listen up landowners in Washington County, OH: For some of you, your shale lease may now be owned by someone else. Pin Oak Energy Partners, a relatively young Marcellus/Utica driller based in Akron, OH, has purchased all of Protégé Energy’s Utica Shale leases (and other assets) located in Washington and Noble counties in Ohio, and Wood County in West Virginia. The vast majority of the lease transfers are in Washington County.
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Shell Sells NWPA Assets, Possibly Tioga County Assets Too

MDN recently received a hot tip from a reader that says Shell (i.e. SWEPI) may have recently sold its Tioga County, PA assets in northcentral PA. Yesterday, Pin Oak Energy issued a press release to say they have cut a deal to buy Shell’s northwestern PA assets, some 43,000 acres in the Utica. Which all feeds into the rumor we shared with you last November that Shell is pulling out of PA drilling (see Is Shell Pulling Out of Pennsylvania Marcellus?).

4/9/19: See important update below provided by Shell
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Pin Oak Energy Buys Marcellus & Conventional Wells in Elk County

Elk County, PA (credit: Wikipedia)

It’s been almost a year to the day since we last wrote about Pin Oak Energy, a relatively young Marcellus/Utica driller based in Akron, OH (see Pin Oak Energy NOT Actively Leasing in Northern Utica Shale). Pin Oak is back in the news, having just closed on a deal to buy producing Marcellus and conventional wells in Elk County, PA.
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Pin Oak Energy NOT Actively Leasing in Northern Utica Shale

Earlier this week MDN highlighted Pin Oak Energy Partners and their strategy of targeting the northern Utica Shale, in counties like Mahoning and Trumbull in Ohio, and Mercer in Pennsylvania (see Pin Oak Zigs to North Utica as Everyone Else Zags to South Utica). We told you we had a pretty good idea that the recent acreage Pin Oak picked up in the northern Utica came from Halcon Resources and BP (see Pin Oak Energy Buys 70K Utica Acres in OH & PA + Pipeline Assets). A new article confirms that suspicion. The article, which interviews Pin Oak’s chief business development officer, also says that although the company has recently picked up acreage via big deals, they are NOT actively leasing new acreage in the area. Rather, Pin Oak continues to look for and cutting deals where there are already drilled wells flowing gas…
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Pin Oak Zigs to North Utica as Everyone Else Zags to South Utica

Pin Oak Energy Partners is an interesting company. As we reported in early February, the company recently closed on several deals to acquire 70,000 Utica acres in both Ohio and Pennsylvania, adding to its portfolio (see Pin Oak Energy Buys 70K Utica Acres in OH & PA + Pipeline Assets). The new acreage (and producing well assets) is located in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio, and Mercer County in Pennsylvania. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed. Neither were the names of the sellers. However, we now have a pretty good idea of who did the selling: Halcon Resources and BP. We have some new insights into the thinking and strategy of Pin Oak by zigging (concentrating on the northern Utica) when it seems everyone else is zagging–abandoning the northern tier for the better-yielding southern Utica…
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Pin Oak Energy Buys 70K Utica Acres in OH & PA + Pipeline Assets

Pin Oak Energy Partners has just more than doubled the leased acreage it owns in the Marcellus/Utica, adding 70,000 Utica acres in both Ohio and Pennsylvania to its portfolio. MDN previously ran several stories about this relatively new entrant to our region (see our Pin Oak Energy stories here). While Pin Oak is a “new” company, the people running it have been around. CEO Chris Halvorson says Pin Oak is comprised of folks who were formerly with AB Resources. You may recall that AB Resources built a position in the southwestern “core” of the Marcellus and sold out to Chevron several years ago. Pin Oak is “what’s next” for for the former AB folks. Their target: the Appalachian basin. They buy both conventional and unconventional wells and acreage. Pin Oak announced yesterday that in a series of transactions with various sellers (all unnamed, amounts not disclosed), the company picked up a total of 70,000 acres in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio, and Mercer County in Pennsylvania. They also bought gas processing facilities and “multiple taps” into interstate gas pipelines, including two taps into the mighty Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Here’s the details on the purchase, which includes 33 conventional wells that target the Knox formation in southern OH…
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Pin Oak Energy’s Unique Strategy and PA Focus

MDN has run two stories about a new Marcellus/Utica drilling company called Pin Oak Energy Partners, one in August (see New Marcellus/Utica Driller Snaps Up Assets in OH, PA) and the other just last week (see Pin Oak Energy Snaps Up 4,300 Acres, 16 Wells from Seneca in NWPA). While Pin Oak is a “new” company, the people running it have been around. CEO Chris Halvorson says Pin Oak is comprised of folks who were formerly with AB Resources. You may recall that AB Resources built a position in the southwestern “core” of the Marcellus and sold out to Chevron several years ago. Pin Oak is “what’s next” for for the former AB folks. Their target: the Appalachian basin. However, they’re doing things differently than most others–zigging while everyone else zags. They like to pick up already-producing oil and gas wells instead of raw acreage. And they don’t take private equity money to fund their operations. They’re using cash from producing wells to help finance new drilling. How about that? Someone that wants to “pay as you go.” That is unique! Here’s a closer look at Pin Oak’s aggressive strategy to expand quickly in north central and northwestern PA…
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Pin Oak Energy Snaps Up 4,300 Acres, 16 Wells from Seneca in NWPA

In August MDN introduced you to a new-to-us driller based in Akron, Ohio–Pin Oak Energy Partners (see New Marcellus/Utica Driller Snaps Up Assets in OH, PA). Pin Oak is owns both conventional and unconventional (shale) oil and natural gas wells, along with associated assets (like pipelines). At the time, Pin Oak currently operated 363 wells producing nearly 5.7 MMcfe/d (32% liquids) across more than 32,000 acres in the Marcellus/Utica region. You can now add another 16 wells (14 Marcellus, 2 Utica) and 4,300 acres to those totals. Yesterday Pin Oak announced they have purchased wells and acreage from Seneca Resources–in Forest, Elk, McKean and Cameron counties in Pennsylvania. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. We can also tell you that last week Pin Oak got an increase in their line of credit with the bank–now able to borrow up to $150 million. Here’s the latest on the newest (rapidly growing) entrant to the Marcellus/Utica…
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New Marcellus/Utica Driller Snaps Up Assets in OH, PA

It’s not often these days we get to announce a new driller in the Marcellus/Utica. Today is one of those days. Actually, this company has been around since early 2015, but we’re only now becoming aware of them. Pin Oak Energy Partners, headquartered in Akron, OH, is an exploration and production company engaged in both conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas wells and the operation of associated assets (like pipelines). Pin Oak currently operates 363 wells producing nearly 5.7 MMcfe/d (32% liquids) across more than 32,000 acres in the Marcellus/Utica region. The company is also involved in midstream, field services and operations through its affiliate companies. Pin Oak is on an aggressive acquisition binge of shale AND midstream assets, as well as leasing new acreage. Who is Pin Oak? According to CEO Chris Halvorson, Pin Oak is comprised of folks who were formerly with AB Resources. You may recall that AB Resources built a position in the southwestern “core” of the Marcellus and sold out to Chevron several years ago. Pin Oak is “what’s next” for for the former AB folks. Their target: the Appalachian basin. In July, Pin Oak bought 9,300 acres of leases and 8 Utica wells from EQT in Guernsey, Muskingum, and Columbiana counties (Ohio). Earlier this week Pin Oak announced they’ve purchased another 7,700 acres of leases and 10 Utica wells from an undisclosed seller in Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Mahoning counties (in Ohio) and Mercer, Crawford and Venango counties (in Pennsylvania). Below are two recent announcements. Pin Oak can be summed up in one word: aggressive. Keep a close eye on this company in the coming months and years…
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