MDN Exclusive: 7-Figure Utica Mineral Deal Covers 116 Wells
Here’s a story you won’t read anywhere else. Strata Petroleum, LLC buys oil and gas mineral rights, and it has quietly sold its mineral interests in 116 producing Ohio Utica wells to Dallas-based Rising Phoenix Royalties. The deal closed effective October 5. Strata managing partner Justin Wainwright reached out to MDN with the news. He won’t disclose the exact price, but he told us it was “well into 7 figures.” The wells are operated by two of the biggest names in the Ohio Utica, EOG Resources and Ascent Resources, and they’re spread across six of the play’s core counties. Strata says it isn’t leaving the region. It plans to keep buying minerals across Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Read More “MDN Exclusive: 7-Figure Utica Mineral Deal Covers 116 Wells”
The Marcellus/Utica region received 29 new drilling permits last week, September 28 – October 4, nearly double the 16 permits issued two weeks earlier. Pennsylvania issued 20 of the new permits. Ohio issued 9 new permits. And West Virginia got skunked, issuing no new permits. The drillers who received new permits last week were: Blackhill Energy, Coterra Energy (now Devon Energy), EOG Resources, Expand Energy, Gulfport Energy, Infinity Natural Resources (INR), and Snyder Brothers. 
Score one for the good guys. The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) voted yesterday (Aug. 20) to hand Chestnut Run Energy LLC its Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need — the golden ticket needed to build a 1,300-megawatt (MW), $2 billion natural gas-fired power plant in Washington Township, Carroll County. That’s smack in the middle of Utica Shale country. MDN first told you about this project back in April (see 
Chestnut Run Energy plans to construct a $2 billion natural gas-powered electric power plant in Carroll County, Ohio, capable of powering up to 900,000 homes (see 
Yesterday, the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) met in a public forum in Columbus and voted to open another 6,570 acres of state-owned wildlife land (in Belmont and Harrison counties) to allow bids to frack under (not on top of) those areas. The Commission also awarded a contract to Grenadier Energy to drill under another wildlife area in Carroll County, 172 acres of the Leesville Wildlife Area. The state is getting an amazing $6,000 signing bonus, equaling $1.03 million, plus big royalties! 
Volatility is the watchword for new permits in the Marcellus/Utica. Three weeks ago, the combined count between Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia was a measly 8 new permits (see