Carrizo Set to Drill First Utica Well in Trumbull County, OH

Trumbull County, Ohio may get its first Utica shale gas well drilled by Carrizo Oil & Gas this summer according to a company representative:

A Houston energy company is poised to bring the Warren area into the shale natural gas boom by drilling its first well around mid-summer.

Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc.’s first [Utica] horizontal well could be in Trumbull County, or across the Pennsylvania border in Mercer County, company Vice President of Investor Relations Richard Hunter said Wednesday.

Along with its financial partner, Avista Capital Partners, the company holds leases on about 16,600 acres in southeastern Trumbull County and southwestern Mercer County, according to the company’s investor presentation to the Independent Petroleum Association of America in Palm Beach, Fla.

Hunter said he couldn’t break out the Trumbull County acreage, but the presentation suggests the county has a slight edge over Mercer.

"We have enough to get started. If the well is encouraging, we’d be interested in adding to the acreage," he said.

Carrizo is applying for permits with state regulators to begin drilling, Hunter said.

"We’d like to start drilling, or have the well site selection completed, by the middle of the year," he said.*

*Warren (OH) Tribune Chronicle (Mar 15, 2012) – Boom inches north