16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 15 – 21
Two weeks ago, during the week of April 8 -14, 17 new permits were issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica (see 17 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 8 – 14). Last week, for the week of April 15 – 21, 16 new permits were issued. However, the composition of where the permits were issued changed significantly from the typical pattern. Only two of the permits were issued in Pennsylvania last week, both for EQT (one in Fayette County, the other in Greene County). Ohio received six new permits divided evenly, with three going to INR and the other three to EOG Resources. INR’s permits were all issued in Guernsey County and EOG’s in Harrison County. West Virginia, which typically receives the fewest new permits, took the lion’s share with eight new permits. Jaybee Oil & Gas received three permits in Tyler County. Southwestern Energy also received three permits but in Wetzel County. Tribune Resources received one new permit (Tyler County), and EQT received one permit (Marion County).
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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.
According to an article in Ohio Country Journal, interest and activity in eastern Ohio’s oil and gas leasing has been growing in some new areas. Those areas include, says Clif Little, Ohio State University Extension educator in Guernsey County, portions of Guernsey and Noble counties where there hadn’t been interest in the past. Little specializes in, among other things, oil and gas leases. He’s the author of “Important aspects of an oil and gas lease” (copy below), chock full of good tips for landowners either leasing for the first time or looking to re-lease.
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!