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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”
In January 2023, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see 
It appears that EOG Resources, with headquarters in Houston, Texas, is about to establish a regional headquarters/operation in Malvern (Carroll County), Ohio. We say “appears” because we have strong evidence, but we don’t (yet) have confirmation. EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with international operations in Trinidad and China), owns a huge 430,000+ acres of leases in the Ohio Utica. EOG calls its position the “Ohio Utica combo play” and now considers it one of the company’s “premium plays.” EOG concentrates on oil drilling in the Utica. It makes sense the company would establish a regional office in the Utica near where it drills.
Yesterday, representatives from Tenaska gave a presentation to the Hancock County (WV) Commission detailing the company’s plans to drill carbon dioxide (CO2) injection wells in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The company anticipates drilling seven CO2 injection wells/sites in WV, 12 wells/sites in OH, and three wells/sites in PA. Tenaska has established an office in Weirton, WV, as it works toward establishing its carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) process in the region. It hopes to have wells operations by 2027.
Yesterday, the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) met in a public forum and voted to allow shale drilling under (not on top of) three different state-owned tracts of land: all 20,000 acres of Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County, more than 300 acres of Valley Run Wildlife Area in Carroll County, and 66 acres of the Zepernick Wildlife Area in Columbiana County. In addition, commissioners voted against shale drilling under Wolf Run State Park. Approximately 100 anti-fossil fuel zealots were on hand at the meeting and nearly made the votes impossible with their prancing, chanting, and singing. They made horses rear ends of themselves by making the meeting miserable for everyone else.
Encino Energy, now Ohio’s biggest oil producer, has agreed to donate $100,000 over the next five years to the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy Foundation to help fund community projects in Tuscarawas, Harrison, Carroll, and Belmont counties. The donation was announced at a press conference on Tuesday at Tappan Lake Marina in Harrison County. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) is an agency formed in 1933 to help control flooding and promote water conservation in the Muskingum River watershed area of Ohio, an area that covers 8,000 square miles. Over the years, MWCD has leased thousands of acres for Utica Shale drilling and cut deals to sell water to drillers for fracking. The result has been well over $100 million in revenue for MWCD–a true game-changer for the agency and the Ohio residents who live in that region.
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) recently released production numbers for the first quarter of 2023, and wow! What a surprise! Oil production in the northern Utica Shale skyrocketed, led by wells drilled by Encino Energy. According to an analysis by the Youngstown Business Journal, four shale wells drilled by Encino in Columbiana County have “shattered previous production figures in the county.” Adding up all oil production by all drillers, Encino had the most oil production in the state, with 53.7% of the total oil produced in the Utica/Point Pleasant during the first quarter. It certainly looks like Encino has cracked the oil code in the Buckeye State!