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Utica Shale Play Resurgence is Real – It’s Time to Get Excited!
Guy Coviello, President and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce, is jazzed about the resurging Utica Shale and says it’s time to get excited about it. In a recent column, Coviello said it’s time “to once again embrace our friends in the oil and gas industry, for our policymakers to invest in the infrastructure necessary to enrich our Valley, for community leaders to roll out red carpets, and for government at all levels to keep the regulatory environment safe and friendly.” What has Coviello so jazzed, especially for the northern Utica? We can sum it up in one word: Oil. Read More “Utica Shale Play Resurgence is Real – It’s Time to Get Excited!”
There were 20 permits issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica for the week of Sept. 30 – Oct. 6, down eight from the 28 issued the prior week. The Keystone State (PA) had eight new permits, with five going to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy following a merger with Chesapeake) in both Susquehanna and Wyoming counties. The other three permits went to Laurel Mountain Energy for a pad in Butler County. 
Encino Energy purchased Chesapeake Energy’s Ohio oil and gas assets (including Utica Shale assets) in 2018 for $2 billion (see 
Columbiana County, OH, located in the northern portion of the Utica Shale play in the Buckeye State, has recently come roaring back to life. In 2022, there were 41 permits issued to drill in the Utica in Columbiana County. So far, in 2023, there have been 35 permits issued to drill in Columbiana County. But here’s the thing: 16 of this year’s 35 permits (half!) were issued in November! It’s like Columbiana had been asleep for most of this year, and then it suddenly came alive.
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.
Once upon a time (roughly 12 years ago), Chesapeake Energy and other shale drillers were leasing property in Columbiana County, OH, in deals that often paid $6,000 per acre for a signing bonus and granted 20% royalties for any oil or gas produced. According to an analysis by the Youngstown Business Journal, those days are long gone. However, many of those original leases have expired, and there is a new push to re-lease in the county, says a Youngstown attorney specializing in oil and gas. Just don’t expect big signing bonuses and royalty rates.