Carroll County 12 - Marcellus Drilling News

Latest Round of Drilling Permits Along PA/OH Border

December 13, 2012

Hilcorp received a permit last week from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to drill its 18th Utica Shale well in Lawrence County, PA. Meanwhile, Chesapeake, Noble and R.E. Gas Development received permits last week from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) to drill six new shale wells in Carroll and Harrison counties.

The details of who is drilling and where:

Chesapeake Hires Tervita Corp to Build OH Wasterwater Plant

December 7, 2012December 7, 2012

Calgary-based Tervita Corporation, an environmental and energy services company, has been selected by Chesapeake Energy to build a wastewater treatment facility in Carroll County, OH. Carroll is the epicenter of Chesapeake’s drilling in the Ohio Utica Shale. The facility will be used to recycle drilling wastewater from Chesapeake’s Utica drilling, as well as other water-related services.

From the Tervita press announcement:

Latest Permits Issued in Ohio’s Utica Shale, Week of Nov 25

December 5, 2012December 5, 2012

Here’s where the latest round permits have been issued for Utica Shale drilling by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, for the week of Nov. 25, 2012:

Latest Permits Issued for PA/OH Utica Shale

November 27, 2012November 27, 2012

An update on the latest drilling permits (issued the past two weeks) for the Utica Shale in both western PA and eastern Ohio, by driller and county:

Chesapeake Says 3 OH Counties are “Core of the Core” in Utica

November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

On the third quarter earnings call with analysts earlier this month, Chesapeake Energy officials were asked about the Utica Shale and their thoughts, now more than a year in, of how the Utica stacks up against the Eagle Ford, and how Chesapeake’s “core of the core” strategy is working in the Utica. Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon answered the question this way, identifying the three counties in Ohio that are “the core of the core” for the company:

The Best (and Not So Best) Utica Drilling Locations in Ohio

November 13, 2012November 13, 2012

choosing the best A recent shale gas conference held in Cambridge, Ohio on Nov. 10 turned up some surprising and interesting facts. One of those facts: Almost 100 percent of the land in Carroll County has been leased for possible Utica shale drilling, or is being held by production.

Here’s a few more interesting items from the conference, shared by a team from Ohio State University Extension (including where drilling is producing good results, and where it’s not):

10 New Utica Shale Permits Issued Last Week in Ohio

November 8, 2012November 7, 2012

Ten new Utica Shale wells were approved by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) for the week covering Oct. 28 through Nov. 3. Here’s a breakdown on where the permits were issued:

Carroll County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Taxation

Carroll County’s Dim View on Higher Severance Taxes

October 4, 2012October 4, 2012

When the miracle of hydraulic fracturing shows up in a community, jobs, money and economic expansion show up too. Not far behind are politicians who want to stick their hands into the pockets of those doing the hard work (the energy companies) and those making it possible (the landowners) so they can “spread the wealth around” to those who don’t do the hard work and don’t make it possible (it’s called buying votes). It’s a powerful temptation that both Democrats and Republicans have a hard time resisting.

Case in point: Ohio.

Carroll County | Energy Companies | Ohio | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Reports Results from First Utica Shale Well

September 27, 2012September 27, 2012

Rex Energy announced initial production results from their first Utica Shale well—the Brace #1H well drilled in Carroll County, Ohio. Rex’s CEO, Tom Stabley, says the initial results are among the best in the county to date (see the numbers below). The company plans to drill an additional nine wells in 2013.

From the Rex announcement:

Carroll County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Utica Shale

Carroll County – “Epicenter” of Utica Shale Drilling in OH

August 29, 2012August 29, 2012

According to Amy Rutledge, head of the Carroll County, Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Carroll County is at the “epicenter” of Utica Shale drilling for the state. She offers these facts and figures to back up that claim:

EV Energy: Production Updates for 2 Ohio Utica Wells

August 21, 2012August 21, 2012

EV Energy Partners has released initial production results for their second Utica Shale well (the Cairns 5H well in Carroll County) and issued an update on their first Utica Shale well (the Frank 2H well in Stark County):

EV Energy Partners 2Q12 Update: Utica NGLs Now Producing

August 10, 2012August 10, 2012

EV Energy Partners (EVEP) reported their 2Q12 financial results yesterday. EVEP is a master limited partnership controlled by oil & gas company EnerVest. They look for lower risk, long-term oil and gas properties, with investments in a number of oil and gas plays across the U.S., including the Utica and Marcellus. It seems they’re doing a good job. Their 2Q12 profits were up 20% from a year ago—to $66.1 million. Production for the second quarter of 2012 was up 47%—10.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas, 282,000 barrels of oil and 403,000 barrels of natural gas liquids, or 14.8 billion cubic feet equivalent.

The only direct quote in the press release from the CEO was in reference to their activities in the Utica Shale:

The Permits Keep Coming for New OH Utica Shale Wells

July 31, 2012July 31, 2012

According to the Daily Jeffersonian, Ohio’s Utica Shale drilling shows no signs of diminishing based on the number of new permits issued for horizontal wells in June:

OH Landowner Loses in Court, Chesapeake Builds Pipeline

July 25, 2012July 25, 2012

A landowner in Carroll County, OH who had sued to stop Chesapeake Energy from installing a pipeline to a well on his property lost the court battle last Friday. Joseph Coniglio had leased his land for drilling to Anschutz, which later assigned the lease to Chesapeake, but he had not signed an agreement for pipelines to be built connecting to wells drilled on his property. Coniglio says the lease specifically prohibits pipelines without a special agreement. Landowners often will receive extra compensation for any pipelines installed to a well, and Coniglio wanted to do a deal with Chesapeake for the well on his property.

Chesapeake says the original agreement allows them to hook up the well to a pipeline. Coniglio went to court earlier in July and won a restraining order. A judge overturned it on Friday and the pipeline is now almost complete.

Carroll County | Energy Services | Ohio | Select Energy Services

Select Energy Reneges on Deal with Carroll County, OH

June 1, 2012June 1, 2012

Select Energy Services provides water solutions and wellsite services in every major shale play in the U.S. With $1 billion in revenues and some 5,000 employees, Select Energy is a major player in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale. They also just jilted Carroll County, Ohio.

Rex Energy Drills First Utica Well, Sells Keystone Midstream

May 30, 2012May 30, 2012

Rex Energy announced yesterday that it has closed on a previously announced deal to sell its subsidiary Keystone Midstream to MarkWest Energy for $512 million (see this MDN story for the original announcement). Rex also announced that their Bluestone cryogenic processing plant, part of the sale, has just gone online and will begin selling gas by June 1st.

But perhaps the biggest news yesterday from Rex, at least for landowners, is that Rex has completed drilling its first Ohio Utica well, in Carroll County. Fracking of the well begins in June, and Rex is now moving the rig back to PA where they will drill their second Utica well—in Lawrence County.