EOG Shale Oil Pad in Carroll County, OH Explodes During Fracking

There was an explosion around 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at an EOG Resources shale well pad located on June Road in Malvern (Carroll County), Ohio. A well on the pad was actively being fracked at the time of the incident, according to news reports. Fortunately, there were no injuries. The fire was contained to a vapor tank on the pad. The wellheads themselves were not involved or damaged. Read More “EOG Shale Oil Pad in Carroll County, OH Explodes During Fracking”

We continue to be delighted with the number of new permits issued to drill shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica. Three weeks ago, that number soared to 37. Two weeks ago, it increased to 39. And last week the number remained high, down just two, back to 37 once again. Wow! We haven’t seen a sustained trend of high permit numbers like this in many moons. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits last week, down from 23 the prior week. Ohio issued 8 new permits, down from 11 the prior week. It was West Virginia that was the breakout star, issuing 16 new permits, up from issuing 5 the preceding week.
Another important lawsuit involving whether or not a driller can deduct from royalty checks for post-production expenses was just decided by the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Seventh District in Carroll County. The rights owner in this case, Gateway Royalty II, sued Encino Energy (EAP Ohio) over the issue of deducting post-production expenses from the company’s overriding royalty interests. This is slightly different from the usual post-production issue for landowners/rights owners.