Ohio

Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

Mind-blowing Earnings from a Single Utica Shale Well
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

Wow! Some truly astonishing numbers (if they hold up) for the earnings power from a single Gulfport well in the Utica Shale of Belmont County, Ohio. According to a WVU professor who tracks these things, the Stutzman well, when brought online, will be earning in the neighborhood of $100,000 per day for Gulfport, and a huge royalty check for the landowner.

Here’s the calculations:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Is Shale Brine Dumping Coming to OH Landfills?
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

MDN friend and Akron Beacon Journal reporter, Bob Downing, has just published an excellent piece of investigative journalism about brine dumping in Ohio landfills. Bob has tracked down a change in policy in Ohio that theoretically allows landfills to begin accepting brine from shale drilling. Brine is (mostly) naturally occurring salt water from deep below the earth that comes out of the wellbore after the well is drilled.

Some of the state’s 40 landfills have received permits to accept drill cuttings and other solids from the drilling process, but so far none have received permits to accept liquid brine that’s solidified with fly ash and other materials. That may be about to change…

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Columbiana County | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M3 Midstream | Momentum | Ohio | Processing Plants

Columbiana County NGL Plant Creates Economic Boom
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

More evidence of just how much the shale drilling industry impacts local businesses (the “supply chain” effect) comes from the new $400 million natural gas liquids processing plant being built in Columbiana County, OH. We reported in December the plant was on track for an “aggressive” May 2013 start date (see Columbiana County NGL Plant On Track for May Opening). The company building the plant, M3 Midstream (also known as Momentum), has revised the start date slightly to June.

Momentum’s construction coordinator Baron John gives an update on progress in building the plant, and offers a few examples of how far and wide the project has already impacted the local economy:

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BP | Energy Companies | Mahoning County | Ohio | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

BP in OH Utica Shale: The Prospectivity of Producibility
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

The regional president for BP North America Gas, Tim Harrington, say’s it’s early days yet for exploiting the Utica Shale for gas, oil and liquids. In a presser on Friday, Harrington used a few words MDN hasn’t heard before—words like “producibility” and “prospectivity.”

The upshot of Harrington’s talk? BP will figure out what their prospects look like in Ohio’s Utica Shale over the next two years…

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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Oxford Oil Company

Belmont County Landowners with Lease Sue to Stop Well Drilling
January 24, 2013January 24, 2013

A Barnesville (Belmont County), OH couple have sued the company they signed a lease with in 2008, Oxford Oil Company, to prevent Oxford from drilling a new well on a hayfield on their property.

The details as we know them:

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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Harrison County | Ohio | Utica Shale

More Impressive Production Numbers for Gulfport in OH’s Utica
January 23, 2013January 23, 2013

Some more impressive production results have just been reported by Gulfport Energy for two of their Utica wells in Ohio: The Clay-1-4H in Harrison County, and the Stutzman 1-14H well in Belmont County. Recall that the most productive well we’ve heard of anywhere (Utica, Marcellus or any other play) was drilled by Gulfport, the Shugert 1-12H in Belmont County. Looks like Belmont County in particular continues to be a great place to drill.

Here’s the results they reported yesterday:

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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Monroe County | Noble County | Ohio | Triad Hunter | Utica Shale | Washington County (OH)

Magnum Hunter Ramps up in OH Utica Shale with 4 Test Wells
January 23, 2013January 23, 2013

The Marcellus Shale is the powerhouse workhorse, but the Utica Shale continues to be white hot for development. Magnum Hunter Resources and its subsidiary Triad Hunter announced yesterday the company will drill a minimum of four Utica “test wells” in 2013. Provided they find a good result, they plan “further development” of their 107,000 gross acres of Utica Shale leases later in 2013—which connotes they’ll drill those test wells early this year. In fact, Triad Hunter is already working on their first Utica well pad in Washington County, OH. A second well pad in Washington County is already in the planning stages, as is a well pad in Noble County.

Magnum Hunter’s press release outlining their plans for Ohio, including references to new OH Marcellus wells just completed and new pipelines on the way for some of their existing OH Marcellus wells:

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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Ethane | Fairfield County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines

OH Airport Receives $450K Check to Allow Ethane Pipeline
January 23, 2013January 23, 2013

In early December, MDN told you about a deal the Fairfield County (Ohio) Airport was contemplating to allow the ATEX Express ethane pipeline to be built under airport property (see ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Will Pay OH Airport $450K). Fairfield County commissioners signed the deal yesterday and received a check for $450,000.

What do the commissioners plan to spend the money on, and when will construction on the pipeline under airport property begin?…

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Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Santrol

New Frack Sand Terminal Opens Near Youngstown, OH
January 23, 2013January 23, 2013

Hydraulic fracturing uses sand—a lot of sand—during the process of drilling for natural gas. The sand is a special kind of very pure sand called silica. It’s used to “prop open” tiny fractures in the shale so gas can drain out—hence it’s referred to as a “proppant.” Most silica is mined in the Midwest, in states like Wisconsin and Minnesota, so getting it from point A to point B for use in drilling can be expensive. Terminals are created to bring in sand by railroad and truck and to store it, making it less expensive.

Santrol, a subsidiary of Fairmount Minerals company, announced today they have just opened a new proppant terminal for Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers. The new terminal is located just south of Youngstown, OH—close the border areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. From the Santrol announcement:

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Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Utica Drilling in a Nutshell: Permits & Wells Drilled, by Driller
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

The Akron Beacon Journal has done a great job of cataloging a condensed list of who is actively drilling—or intends to drill—in the Utica Shale. There are 23 companies in the list. No surprise that Chesapeake is #1 with 325 of the 498 permits handed out so far.

Here’s the entire list of 23 companies, along with a rundown of who’s drilled all 48 wells currently in production:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Regulation

Anti-Drilling Fervor Heats Up in Kent, OH
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Anti-drillers in and around Kent, Ohio have some helpful suggestions for elected officials in Kent: ban fracking. And if you can’t ban it, make zoning so onerous that the practical effect would be to ban it. And if you can’t do that, be sure to pass a law that blocks access to all water supplies around Kent so drillers have no way of fracking. And if you can’t do that… See a theme developing here?

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Columbiana County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marathon Petroleum | Ohio | Trucking

Columbiana Port Authority Close to Final Deal with Marathon
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Back in July MDN told you about a deal the Columbiana County Port Authority hoped to do with Marathon Petroleum to sell Marathon 3.6 acres in along the riverfront in Wellsville, OH so they can build a transfer station (truck terminal) to accept natural gas liquids and oil from local shale drilling by truck and, load it onto barges which would then float downriver for refining (see Columbiana Port Authority Helps Shale Industry).

Two actions taken on Monday by the Port Authority significantly advanced the ball down the field toward making the deal a reality:

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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Noble County | Ohio

OH Muskingum Watershed District to Sign Drilling Lease in Feb.
January 21, 2013January 21, 2013

Last November, MDN told you that the Ohio Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), the largest watershed district in the state covering about 20% of Ohio’s landmass, had entered negotiations with Antero Resources to allow drilling and fracking under MWCD land around Seneca Lake (see OH Muskingum Watershed District Seeks Lease with Antero). Everything but the final price is now done, and the proposed lease (copy embedded below) will be voted on at the next board meeting of the MWCD on Feb. 15.

The lease, as written, will allow drilling under but not on 6,700 acres of property in Guernsey and Noble counties. Antero will have to drill from adjacent properties to reach the land—no disturbance of the surface will be permitted. How much will the MWCD get for a signing bonus and royalties?

Read More “OH Muskingum Watershed District to Sign Drilling Lease in Feb.”
Carrizo Oil & Gas | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Gulfport Energy | Hess | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

More than $1.2B & Counting on New Utica Drilling for 2013
January 21, 2013January 21, 2013

So far, more than $1.2 billion (that we know of) has been budgeted by Ohio’s Utica Shale drillers for 2013. A whopping $7 billion has been allocated for pipelines and processing plants over the next several years.

Here’s a quick rundown on the plans for a few of the Utica’s major drillers and what they plan to spend on drilling in the Utica in 2013:

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BP | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Trumbull County

BP Cancels Deal for 7% of ALOV Leases in Trumbull County, OH
January 18, 2013January 18, 2013

In March 2012, BP signed a huge deal with landowners belonging to the Associated Landowners of the Ohio Valley (ALOV) group to lease 84,000 acres in Trumbull County, OH (see BP’s Big Utica Shale Deal, Leases 84K Acres in Ohio). The terms of that deal were $3,900 per acre as a signing bonus and 17.5% in royalties. Very sweet indeed.

Part of the process when signing a lease deal is “due diligence” in researching property deeds to be sure the driller will have a clear right to drill on or under the property. About 180 landowners with a collective 4,203 acres didn’t make the cut for the ALOV deal, and their contracts, according to the terms of the lease, were “released” this week by BP:

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Devon Energy | Energy Companies | Knox County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Devon Energy Plugs Third Utica Well, Changes Strategy
January 18, 2013January 18, 2013

Devon Energy, recently named by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in the U.S., has just plugged a third Utica Shale well in Ohio and is signaling a major change in strategy. They no longer plan to drill for natural gas in the Utica and will instead concentrate 100% of their time (and money) on drilling for oil.

A few weeks ago MDN told you about two Ohio Utica wells plugged and “abandoned” by Devon, one in Medina County and the other in Ashland County where they found disappointing results (see Flip Side: Some OH Utica Shale Wells Get Plugged/Abandoned). The third Utica well to be plugged and abandoned by Devon is located, ironically, in Utica, Ohio (Knox County):

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