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30 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 30 – Jan 5

For the week of Dec 30 – Jan 5, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica rebounded from holiday lows. There were 30 new permits issued last week, up from just 12 issued the week before. The Keystone State (PA) issued nine new permits, with six going to Range Resources in Allegheny County and three to EQT, split between Lycoming and Washington counties. Read More “30 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 30 – Jan 5”

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12 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 23 – 29

For the week of Dec 23 – 29, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica took a dive, which isn’t surprising given it was the end of the year. There were only 12 new permits issued for Dec. 23 – 29, less than half the 27 issued the week before. The Keystone State (PA) issued seven new permits, with five going to Repsol in Bradford and Tioga counties and two going to EQT (and Rice, owned by EQT) in Greene County. Buckeye State (OH) issued five new permits, all of which went to Encino Energy (EAP) in Carroll and Harrison counties. The Mountain State (WV), issuing precisely zero new permits. Must be the WV DEP folks were out of the office for the holiday. Read More “12 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 23 – 29”

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Superlight Crude Production Takes Off in Eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale

Condensates the light-colored bottles on the left

We’ve been covering the emergence of Ohio Utica oil over the past couple of years (see our Utica oil stories here). Other news outlets are beginning to notice the oily Utica. The experts at RBN Energy published a post on Friday announcing, “Condensate Production Takes Off in Eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale.” Condensate is another word for superlight crude oil. The RBN post analyzes recent oil drilling in Ohio, the potential for more growth through the second half of the 2020s, and the impact of Ohio’s increasing oil output on Midwest midstreamers and refiners. Read More “Superlight Crude Production Takes Off in Eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale”

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OH Court Case Mixed Bag for Landowners re Post-Production Deductions

A lawsuit that slipped by us (and is still playing out) that began in Carroll County, OH, has major ramifications for landowners and drillers across the state. The case is EAP Ohio LLC v. Sunnydale Farms LLC, et al. in which 13 oil and gas leases were executed in 2008 and 2009 in Carroll County, Ohio. The 2008 Leases contained an identical royalty clause that limited post-production deductions to three categories: transportation, compression, and/or dehydration to deliver the gas for sale. After drilling wells on those properties, EAP (Encino Energy) deducted several other items from royalties, including costs incurred for processing, treating, fuel, gathering, and trucking. The lawsuit tussles with the issue of how terms are defined and whether these “extra” categories are allowed under the lease’s language. Read More “OH Court Case Mixed Bag for Landowners re Post-Production Deductions”

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12 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 25 – Dec 1

For the week of Nov 25 – Dec 1, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica dropped dramatically. Only 12 new permits were issued last week, less than half the 28 issued the week before. The Keystone State (PA) issued just two new permits, one to EQT in Greene County and the other to Range Resources in Washington County. The Buckeye State (OH) issued six new permits last week. All six went to Encino Energy (EAP), with four in Carroll County and two in Columbiana County. The Mountain State (WV) issued four new permits, three of which went to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy) in Ohio County and one to Antero Resources in Tyler County. Read More “12 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 25 – Dec 1”

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28 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 18 – 24

For the week of Nov 18 – 24, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica continued to be strong, with 28 new permits issued, down just two from the 30 issued the prior week. The Keystone State (PA) issued 11 new permits, with five going to CNX Resources, all in Allegheny County. Two permits were issued to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy) in Lycoming County. The remaining four were single permits issued to EQT Corporation (Greene County), Infinity Natural Resources (Indiana County), Range Resources (Washington County), and Apex Energy (Westmoreland County). Read More “28 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 18 – 24”

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14 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 14 – 20

For the week of Oct 14 – 20, there were 14 permits issued to drill Marcellus/Utica wells, up from 10 permits issued the prior week. The Keystone State (PA) had just four new permits (down from six the previous week), with three going to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy) in Susquehanna County and one for Seneca Resources in Lycoming County. The Buckeye State (OH) had seven new permits, with six going to Encino Energy (EAP) for two pads in Carroll County. The other OH permit was for Ascent Resources in Harrison County. The Mountain State (WV) issued three new permits, with all three going to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy) in Marshall County. Read More “14 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 14 – 20”

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Encino Looks to Expand Drilling Under & Around Leesville Lake, OH

Encino Energy wants to establish new oil and gas wells on Leesville Lake lands owned by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) in Carroll County. The conservancy district’s board of directors is expected to consider a lease agreement with the company’s Ohio affiliate at its meeting tomorrow. The left is apoplectic. The MWCD manages over 54,000 acres of land in Ohio. Over the past decade, the MWCD has leased over half of that land for shale drilling. This isn’t the conservancy’s first rodeo with shale drillers. Encino is one of four operators the MWCD has leased with and is the largest of the four that leases MWCD-owned acreage. Read More “Encino Looks to Expand Drilling Under & Around Leesville Lake, OH”

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28 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 23 – 29

There were 28 permits issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica for the week of Sept. 23 – 29, down slightly from the 32 issued the prior week. The Keystone State (PA) had 15 new permits, with seven of them going to Range Resources, most of them in Washington County. Three permits were issued to Chesapeake Energy in Bradford County, and two permits were issued to Southwestern Energy in Susquehanna County. As of Tuesday, Chesapeake and Southwestern combined in a merger to form Expand Energy (see Chesapeake & Southwestern Complete Merger; Now #1 U.S. Gas Driller). It’s going to take a while before the name change flows through to new permits, so we’ll keep reporting on the permits by their given names for now. Read More “28 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 23 – 29”

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32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 16 – 22

There were 32 permits issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica for the week of Sept. 16 – 22, more than doubling the 15 issued the prior week. The Keystone State (PA) had nine new permits, with five of them going to EQT in Greene County. The Buckeye State (OH) had 20 new permits. The floodgates opened up! The top recipient in OH was Encino Energy, which received eight permits divided between Guernsey and Carroll counties. EOG Resources received five permits in Harrison County. The Mountain State (WV) had three new permits after getting skunked the prior week. All three were issued to Northeast Natural Energy (NNE) in Monongalia County. Read More “32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 16 – 22”

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32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 26 – Sep 1

For the week of Aug. 26 – Sept. 1, a total of 32 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica, nearly matching the previous week’s 34. It’s nice to see the numbers returning to higher levels. The Keystone State (PA) had 18 new permits. PA’s top recipient was EQT (and its subsidiary Rice Drilling), with ten permits in Greene County. Seneca Resources was second, with five new permits issued in Lycoming County. Olympus Energy received three permits in Westmoreland County. Read More “32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 26 – Sep 1”

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20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jul 29 – Aug 4

For the week of July 29 – August 4, a total of 20 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica, with the vast majority issued in Ohio. The Buckeye State had 13 new permits, with seven going to EOG Resources split between Noble and Carroll counties. Four permits went to Encino Energy in Harrison County. Two permits were issued to INR (Infinity Natural Resources) in Guernsey County. Pennsylvania issued six new permits last week, with four going to Range Resources in Washington County and two to Snyder Brothers in Armstrong County. West Virginia had just one new permit issued to Southwestern Energy in Marshall County.

Read More “20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jul 29 – Aug 4”

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Fracker Wants to Drill Under State Wildlife Area in Carroll County

In January 2023, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see OH Gov. Signs Bill Expanding Drilling in State Parks, NatGas “Green”). The new law allows shale drilling under (but not on top of) Ohio state-owned land, including state parks. HB 507 encourages (pushes for) more drilling under state-owned land. The special commission created to award contracts — called the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) — meets periodically to consider “nominations” (requests to drill). The OGLMC has just received another nomination…this one to drill under (not on) 128 acres of the Leesville Wildlife Area in Carroll County.
Read More “Fracker Wants to Drill Under State Wildlife Area in Carroll County”

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Ohio About to Net $60+ Million for Drilling Under State Parks

check is in the mail

A request by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) to set up two new bank accounts to accept payments from drillers is the tipoff that drilling is about to begin under some of Ohio’s state land, including state parks. The state will receive nearly $60 million in lease signing bonus payments to drill under Salt Fork State Park (in Guernsey County), Valley Run Wildlife Area (in Carroll County), and the Zepernick Wildlife Area (in Columbiana County). The vast majority of that is for drilling under Salt Fork.
Read More “Ohio About to Net $60+ Million for Drilling Under State Parks”

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16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 29 – May 5

Two weeks ago, during the week of April 22 – 28, there were 26 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica. Last week, for April 29 – May 5, there were just 16 new permits issued. Encino Energy was the top receiver of permits with 7 permits between two counties: Carroll and Harrison, both in Ohio. EQT (mainly under its Rice Drilling name) received 5 permits between Fayette and Greene counties in Pennsylvania. INR picked up 2 new permits in Guernsey County, OH. Both LOLA Energy and Chesapeake Energy picked up 1 new permit for Butler and Sullivan counties in Pennsylvania.
Read More “16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 29 – May 5”

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17 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 8 – 14

Two weeks ago, for April 1 – 7, there were eight new permits issued (see 8 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 1 – 7). However, all eight were issued in Pennsylvania. Both Ohio and West Virginia failed to issue any new permits two weeks ago. Fortunately, that changed last week. For the week of April 8 – 14, there were 17 new permits issued. Seven of those permits were issued in Pennsylvania, with the vast majority going to EQT (six permits, all in Greene County). Ohio issued four new permits last week, all of them to oil driller Encino Energy for Carroll County. West Virginia issued six new permits, with four going to EQT in Marion County and two going to Southwestern Energy in Brooke County.
Read More “17 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 8 – 14”