Ohio

Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Mid-Year Update for OH Utica – Who’s Drilling Where & How Much?
July 9, 2014July 9, 2014

Time for an update on the rapidly expanding Utica Shale region. Below MDN outlines the most active drillers in the Utica, indicating their acreage positions and how many wells they have permitted, drilled or producing (so far). Information on acreage positions was gleaned from company websites, the 2014 Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook, Vol. 1 and NGI’s Shale Plays Fact Book…
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Housing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH

OSU Extension Says Shale Boom Towns Don’t Have to Go Bust
July 9, 2014July 9, 2014

Are communities that see a boom from shale drilling destined to experience a bust sometime down the road? MDN recalls that was one of the main reasons Cornell “professor” Tony Ingraffea offered for why he doesn’t like shale drilling at a meeting he addressed back in 2010 (see Cornell Hydraulic Fracturing Expert Headlines First Meeting of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) in Vestal, NY). However, a new project being launched by Ohio State University’s Extension program says boom then bust “isn’t inescapable” and they aim to help communities avoid that fate…
Read More “OSU Extension Says Shale Boom Towns Don’t Have to Go Bust”
Belmont County | Butler County | Carroll County | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Noble County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Begins Selling Ethane; New Wells Go Online in June
July 8, 2014July 8, 2014

Rex Energy, the “little driller that could” and indeed “is” doing a marvelous job in the Marcellus Shale, issued an important update yesterday. Rex reports they began ethane sales on June 11–which was a little bit delayed from what they had expected. But better late than never. Rex projects selling 2,000-3,000 barrels per day of ethane until mid-July at which point more sources will come online. Once all cylinders are firing, the company expects to sell 5,000 barrels of ethane per day. In addition to the good ethane news, Rex recently brought a number of new Marcellus Shale wells online and expects to keep up a brisk pace this year…
Read More “Rex Energy Begins Selling Ethane; New Wells Go Online in June”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Meigs County | Ohio | Regulation | Wastewater

GreenHunter Seeks Approval for Barge Facility in Meigs County, OH
July 8, 2014July 8, 2014

Over the past few years GreenHunter Water, a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, has purchased seven barge facilities along the Ohio River with the stated intent to transport frack wastewater from up the river in places in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and even Ohio, to further down the river in Ohio–where it would be offloaded and disposed by injection well. We wrote in May 2013 of the long road to receiving federal approval for such a plan (see The Long (Federal) Road to Approve GreenHunter’s Barge Terminals). Then in October it seemed like an approval from the U.S. Coast Guard was imminent (see Coast Guard Green Lights Barge Transport of Frack Wastewater). Here we are in July 2014–and still no Coast Guard approval in sight, which is disappointing…
Read More “GreenHunter Seeks Approval for Barge Facility in Meigs County, OH”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Makes $150K Grant to Union to Train Utica/Marcellus Welders
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

More highly skilled (and highly paid) welders will be on the way soon in the Utica and Marcellus Shale thanks to a $150,000 training grant by the State of Ohio to the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 396. The grant, from the Governor’s Office of Appalachia, will train (or retrain) 40 union welders over the next one year. The money will put Ohioans back to work by working in the gas fields (no “foreigners” need apply). Here’s the official announcement:
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Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Natgas Production Doubles from 2012 to 2013 Thx to the Utica
July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

Yesterday the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for 2013 and the numbers were truly impressive. ODNR says all oil and gas wells (conventional and unconventional/shale) in Ohio produced 8 million barrels of oil and 171 billion cubic feet of gas in 2013. Compared to 2012, Ohio’s total oil production increased by 62% and natural gas production increased by 97%. The increase in natural gas is due almost entirely to the Utica Shale…
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Ohio | Statewide OH

Ohio Utica’s Top 10 Gas Wells & Top 10 Oil Wells 1Q14
July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources not only released 2013 full year oil and gas production figures yesterday, they also released first quarter 2014 production figures. For 1Q14 the state’s Utica wells produced almost 2 million barrels of oil and 67 billion cubic feet of natural gas from 418 operating wells (out of 476 completed wells). Below MDN has assmebled the Top 10 natural gas producing wells for 1Q14, the top 10 oil wells, and stats by county and by driller. It paints a fascinating picture…
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Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

MWCD Reinvesting $300M of Utica Shale Revenue over Next 10 Yrs
July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) covers more than 8,000 square miles of rivers, reservoirs and creeks that drain into the Muskingum River. It is the largest wholly contained watershed in the state of Ohio, covering about 20% of the state. MWCD owns 54,000 acres of land. Early in the Utica Shale boom in Ohio the MWCD was scared off from participating (see Muskingum Watershed Reverses Decision to Sell Water to Drillers). But it wasn’t long before the MWCD board found their resolve and started to not only sell water for Utica fracking, they started leasing land like crazy (see Antero Pays $15K/Acre, 20% Royalties for MWCD Piedmont Lake Lease). All of those water sales and leases for drilling are now paying off for MWCD rate payers and indeed for all Ohioans…
Read More “MWCD Reinvesting $300M of Utica Shale Revenue over Next 10 Yrs”
Guernsey County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Why is Guernsey County Recorder’s Office Still Busy 4 Yrs Later?
July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

MDN has long pointed out an early tip for where drilling is likely to happen is when the county recorder’s (or clerk’s) office gets really busy with landmen and abstractors researching deeds. Sometimes the traffic jam in those small offices can even turn contentious (see Patience Gone: OH County Recorder Threatens to Sue for More Space). The county recorder’s office in Guernsey County, OH was one such place where activity was at a fevered pitch. Drilling is happening in Guernsey–in a big way. However, the recorder’s office, four years later, still hasn’t slowed down–even though almost all property has been bought or leased. Why?…
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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Dem Gov Candidate Tries to Outdo “Foreigner Hunter” Kasich
July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

This is interesting. We didn’t even know there is a governor’s race in Ohio this year. The OH race is probably not newsworthy because the Democrat running against John Kasich doesn’t stand a prayer of a chance. Most polls we checked have Kasich trouncing his opponent–Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald–by at least 10 points. However, what’s interesting and noteworthy is that FitzGerald is trying to out-foreigner hunter the foreigner hunter himself, Gov. Kasich. You may recall MDN labeled Kasich “the foreigner hunter” back in 2012 after he started his jingoistic talk labeling out-of-state experts who work on some of Ohio’s drilling rigs and in the Ohio Utica Shale as “foreigners” (see OH Gov. Kasich Continues Trash Talk Out-of-State Workers). Such talk is unbecoming a governor and unbecoming a supposed conservative–and we continue to point it out. Well it seems Democrat FitzGerald is even more extreme than Kasich…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Cuyahoga County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Utica Shale

Gates Mills, OH Mayor Faces Uphill Battle in Proposed Land Trust
July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

In February MDN reported that an Ohio community near Cleveland had concocted a plan to restrict drilling in their neighborhood by getting residents to sign a restrictive land trust (see Cleveland Suburb’s Socialist Model for Restricting Utica Drilling). As it turns out, MDN was a bit off base in our analysis (yes, we admit when we’re wrong!). The mayor of Gates Mills, Shawn Riley, contacted MDN to set the record straight–something we haven’t had a chance to do, until now…
Read More “Gates Mills, OH Mayor Faces Uphill Battle in Proposed Land Trust”
Energy Services | Ergon | Hancock County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Washington County (OH) | West Virginia

New Condensate Processing Coming to Utica/Marcellus from Ergon
July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

New condensate processing is on the way later this year from Ergon, Inc.–a company headquartered in Mississippi but with refineries and processing facilities in Ohio and West Virginia (and operations that include western Pennsylvania, Kentucky and New York). Ergon announced yesterday the company has spent over $75 million in the past two years to upgrade facilities, and continues to spend. Coming later this year is a 10,000 barrel per day condensate stabilization facility in Marietta, OH. Coming next year, the same kind of facility (also 10,000 bbl/d) in Newell, WV…
Read More “New Condensate Processing Coming to Utica/Marcellus from Ergon”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Carroll County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

Anti Groups Seek to Help Those with Utica Drilling Grievances
July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

Live in Ohio and feel like those big, nasty, greedy shale drillers have screwed you out of your version of the American dream? Feel like rent on your dumpy apartment is sky high because of an influx of “foreigners” (from Texas and Oklahoma) snapping up apartments, driving up prices? Did you sign a lease a year or two too early and found out if you’d waited, you could have gotten 10x what you got? The communistic-sounding Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC) and the Communities United for Responsible Energy (CURE) have a so-called town hall meeting just for you, on Thursday, July 10 in Carrollton, OH…
Read More “Anti Groups Seek to Help Those with Utica Drilling Grievances”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Regulation | Wastewater

Anti-Drillers Try to Close Portage County, OH Injection Well
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Two anti-drilling groups–Concerned Citizens of Ohio and the the Virginia-based Center for Health, Environment and Justice–have filed a reckless complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleging an injection well in Portage County, OH has been illegally accepting millions of gallons of frack wastewater. The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) disagrees. Here’s a breakdown of the situation and the claims and counter claims…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Try to Close Portage County, OH Injection Well”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio

Statoil Frack Trucks Catch Fire in Monroe County, OH
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

Crews were working to frack a Utica Shale well at a Statoil drill pad in Monroe County, OH around 9 am on Saturday when hydraulic tubing (not to be confused with the process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking) from some of the equipment caught fire. The fire quickly spread to 20 trucks lined up at the pad, burning the trucks (some of them exploding) and creating thick, black smoke that billowed for hours. Fortunately no one was injured, although 20-25 families living within a mile of the well were evacuated…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

GreenHunter Resources, a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, is making small moves to compete with MarkWest Energy and Williams. Today, GreenHunter announced they are building (in a partnership with Major Pipeline LLC) three new, short pipelines. The three pipelines represent a total of 34 miles of new pipeline, when added together. One pipeline each will be dedicated to brine/wastewater, fresh water, and condensate. Two of the pipelines will originate in southwestern PA and one in WV. All of them will connect with one of GreenHunter’s barge terminals on the Ohio River. Also in the mix is a condensate “splitter”…
Read More “3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area”