Belmont County

Belmont County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Jefferson County (OH) | Noble County | Ohio | Utica Shale

CONSOL’s View of Best Counties to Drill in Ohio Utica Shale
June 17, 2013June 17, 2013

Last Friday at a Columbiana (OH) Area Chamber of Commerce event, Harry Schurr, general manager of Utica Shale operations for CONSOL Energy, spilled the beans on which Ohio counties he believes will see drilling for oil and gas in the near- and medium-term. He outlines where oil drilling is not going to take off (not enough pressure to pump it out), and where gas drilling will not take off until gas prices go higher. But like the story of Goldilocks, there are a few Ohio counties where the conditions (i.e. large volumes of condensate) are “just right” for drillers…
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Belmont County | Carroll County | Columbiana County | Harrison County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale | Washington County (OH)

Latest OH Utica Permit Numbers, Rig Count Discrepancy
June 6, 2013June 6, 2013

As of June 1, Ohio has issued 693 Utica Shale drilling permits. Of the permits now issued, 339 (about half) of the wells have been drilled. Of the half now drilled, Utica has 102 wells (almost one-third) now online and producing natural gas, gas liquids and oil. According to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR), there are currently 37 drilling rigs operating in the Utica Shale. That number is different from the Baker Hughes weekly tracking number which reports for the last week of May there were 32 active rotary rigs in Ohio. Why the difference? We don’t know. (We’ve included the Baker Hughes monthly averages in a handy chart below for OH, PA and WV.)

During the week of May 26 – June 1, the ODNR issued 18 new permits, most of them to the usual suspects. Here’s where the permits were issued, and the companies that received them:
Read More “Latest OH Utica Permit Numbers, Rig Count Discrepancy”
Belmont County | Crime | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Wastewater

Another OH Company Shut Down for Illegal Frack Wastewater Dumping
June 5, 2013June 5, 2013

Yesterday the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) shut down St. Clairsville (Belmont County), OH company Harch Environmental Resources saying the company was caught illegally dumping fracking wastewater on the ground in Ohio. ODNR also rapped Gulfport Energy on the knuckles but good as well. Gulfport used Harch but, according to ODNR, “failed to meet its responsibility to monitor” frack wastewater from cradle to grave. Both Harch and Gulfport are now being investigated by Ohio’s attorney general for civil and criminal charges.

The notice issued yesterday from ODNR:
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Antero Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

OH School District Gets $400K Lease Bonus from Antero Resources
April 29, 2013April 29, 2013

The Barnesville Exempted Village School District in Belmont County, OH has just signed a lease with Antero Resources for $5,700 per acre plus 20% royalties. Antero also kicked in an extra gift of $37,500 making the grand total for the lease bonus just over $400,000 for the school district. The school’s superintendent Randy Lucas said Antero plans to start drilling “sometime over the next two years”…

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Belmont County | Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Opens New Regional Office in Belmont County, OH
April 23, 2013April 23, 2013

Chesapeake Energy has just opened a new field office in Belmont County, OH at the Fox Commerce Park, just west of St. Clairsville:

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Belmont County | Economic Impact | Housing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Supply Chain

OH Company Says Housing Construction is Booming from Shale
March 27, 2013March 27, 2013

A Belmont County, OH construction company that builds homes and commercial buildings reports business is brisk, and the way they do business has now changed—all because of shale drilling:

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Beck Energy | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Monroe County | Ohio | XTO

XTO, Beck Energy Appeal OH Case Allowing Lease Termination
March 15, 2013March 15, 2013

Earlier this week MDN told you about 600-700 landowners in Ohio who won a lawsuit allowing them to terminate leases held with Beck Energy and XTO Energy (see OH Lawsuit Victory: 600-700 Landowners Can Terminate Beck, XTO Leases).

Beck and XTO are none too happy with the decision and have appealed it to the Ohio Court of Appeals:

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Beck Energy | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Monroe County | Ohio | XTO

OH Lawsuit Victory: 600-700 Landowners Can Terminate Beck, XTO Leases
March 11, 2013March 11, 2013

A court case recently-decided could have big implications for landowners in Ohio. The case means that some 600-700 landowners with signed leases with Beck Energy Corp. and XTO Energy in Monroe and Belmont counties may be able to join a class action to have their leases terminated, allowing them to re-sign with a different company.

The details, as provided by law firm Jackson Kelly:

Read More “OH Lawsuit Victory: 600-700 Landowners Can Terminate Beck, XTO Leases”
Antero Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio

Antero Continues to Sign Leases with Barnesville, OH Residents
March 11, 2013March 11, 2013

Antero Resources continues to sign residents of the village of Barnesville (Belmont County), OH to leases with terms of $5,700 per acre for a signing bonus, plus 20% royalties. A month ago MDN told you about the push by Antero in Belmont County and Barnesville (see Antero Offers Barnesville, OH Residents $5,700/Acre 20% Royalties).

According to one of Antero’s main cheerleaders, Barnesville Mayor Ron Bischof, the company has signed a number of residents (records show over 800 leases) and they’re still offering the same deal. It’s not too late…

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Belmont County | Blue Racer Midstream | Caiman Energy | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | NGLs | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | West Virginia

Bomb Threat at Natrium, WV NGL Plant Doesn’t Slow Construction
February 19, 2013February 19, 2013

A $500 million natural gas liquids processing plant in Natrium (Marshall County), WV will go online in the next few weeks—even with a temporary stoppage of construction last Saturday due to a bomb threat (no word on who made the threat or why). The Natrium plant is part of Blue Racer Midstream, a $1.5 billion joint venture between Dominion and Caiman Energy (see Dominion, Caiman in $1.5B Utica JV: Blue Racer Midstream). The new plant was originally scheduled to go online by end of 2012.

Some of the construction for the plant is happening across the border in Belmont County, Ohio:

Read More “Bomb Threat at Natrium, WV NGL Plant Doesn’t Slow Construction”
Antero Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio

Antero Offers Barnesville, OH Residents $5,700/Acre 20% Royalties
February 7, 2013February 7, 2013

Normally drillers eschew drilling under cities or villages as a practical matter. Where do you put a drilling rig? What about traffic clogging up local streets? What if you can’t get everyone (or almost everyone) to sign? And why work to sign several hundred leases for a one square mile drilling unit with all of the deed research, negotiations, etc. that come with it, when you can sign leases with three or four people (farmers with lots of acreage) in a single unit?

The prospect of dealing with hundreds of landowners is not stopping Antero Resources (see Antero Resources Goes “All In” on Marcellus/Utica) from offering the residents of Barnesville (Belmont County), OH the same deal they struck last year to lease village-owned land: $5,700 per acre as a signing bonus, and 20% royalties on production.

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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

Mind-blowing Earnings from a Single Utica Shale Well
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

Wow! Some truly astonishing numbers (if they hold up) for the earnings power from a single Gulfport well in the Utica Shale of Belmont County, Ohio. According to a WVU professor who tracks these things, the Stutzman well, when brought online, will be earning in the neighborhood of $100,000 per day for Gulfport, and a huge royalty check for the landowner.

Here’s the calculations:

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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Oxford Oil Company

Belmont County Landowners with Lease Sue to Stop Well Drilling
January 24, 2013January 24, 2013

A Barnesville (Belmont County), OH couple have sued the company they signed a lease with in 2008, Oxford Oil Company, to prevent Oxford from drilling a new well on a hayfield on their property.

The details as we know them:

Read More “Belmont County Landowners with Lease Sue to Stop Well Drilling”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Harrison County | Ohio | Utica Shale

More Impressive Production Numbers for Gulfport in OH’s Utica
January 23, 2013January 23, 2013

Some more impressive production results have just been reported by Gulfport Energy for two of their Utica wells in Ohio: The Clay-1-4H in Harrison County, and the Stutzman 1-14H well in Belmont County. Recall that the most productive well we’ve heard of anywhere (Utica, Marcellus or any other play) was drilled by Gulfport, the Shugert 1-12H in Belmont County. Looks like Belmont County in particular continues to be a great place to drill.

Here’s the results they reported yesterday:

Read More “More Impressive Production Numbers for Gulfport in OH’s Utica”
Belmont County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Ohio Gathering | Pipelines

New Pipeline/Compressor Plant Coming in Belmont County, OH
December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

Ohio Gathering Co. has posted a $5 million bond in Belmont County, OH to cover the cost of potential road repairs and maintenance in connection with a pipeline and compressor plant project they have under way in the county.

Here’s where (in the county) the pipeline and compressor plant is being built, along with the roads that will be affected by truck and heavy equipment traffic:

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Belmont County | Ohio

Belmont County, OH Deed Research Impacts Local Library Too
December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

In November, MDN pointed out you can always tell where drilling will soon begin in earnest by the how busy the local county clerk/deed recorder office is. We predicted that Belmont County, OH would soon see a ramp up in drilling based on the frenzy of activity at the county recorder’s office (see this MDN story).

The activity at the Belmont recorder’s office is as busy as ever, even over the holiday period. It’s standing room only at the office, and that’s now spilled over to the public library across the street. Abstractors have taken to snapping digital photographs of deed books and then relocating to the more spacious facility of the public library. But now that’s creating a problem…

Read More “Belmont County, OH Deed Research Impacts Local Library Too”