Over the objection of their own lawyer, the village board of Yellow Springs (Green County), Ohio voted to ban both injection wells and all hydraulic fracturing within the village at an August 20 meeting. Three board members (out of five) decided they know better than their residents what those residents can do with their own land.
A new online service displays more than 700 companies in a 12-county region of Ohio that provide services and supplies to the Utica and Marcellus Shale drilling industry on an interactive map. The Ohio Shale Energy “supply chain” website provides a valuable service for businesses looking to plug in to the ever-expanding energy industry in Ohio.
Now that the site is up and running, there are plans to expand it to cover the entire state.
Read More “New Utica Supply Chain Website for Ohio Businesses”
EV Energy Partners has released initial production results for their second Utica Shale well (the Cairns 5H well in Carroll County) and issued an update on their first Utica Shale well (the Frank 2H well in Stark County):
Read More “EV Energy: Production Updates for 2 Ohio Utica Wells”
Ohio’s official state geologist, Larry Wickstrom, chief of the ODNR’s Division of Geological Survey, was fired in May because he updated and released a map showing new boundaries for the Utica Shale and where the best places to drill would be located (see this MDN story). The update caused some of the previous lines to change, and that upset a few people (especially Larry’s political bosses). Mac Swinford has taken his place as interim state geologist. Swinford says a new version of the map will be released in September. Let’s hope he fares better than Wickstrom in navigating the politics of science.
Swinford has given us a heads-up of what the new map will show:
Read More “OH State Geologist: New Utica Map Coming in September”
Hilcorp Energy is interested in drilling in Ohio’s Utica Shale. Specifically, they’re signing contracts and making offers in Mahoning County (northeastern Ohio).
Here are some of the lease offer deals they’ve recently made or signed:
Read More “Hilcorp Energy Leasing Utica Acreage in Mahoning County, OH”
Chevron is set to begin drilling it’s very first Utica Shale well in September. The Kinsey well will be drilled near Tippecanoe, Ohio:
Read More “Chevron’s First Utica Shale Well Coming in September”
More jobs and more economic activity are on the way in eastern Ohio courtesy of Chesapeake Energy’s investments to build a new office complex near St. Clairsville (Belmont County) and their investment in a natural gas processing plant (Harrison/Columbiana counties). The new office complex is due to open in November while the processing plant is due to come online in 2013.
Read More “Chesapeake’s Construction Investment in Ohio Continues”
Akron Beacon Journal reporter Bob Downing reports some interesting facts about the Utica Shale from a recent conference. Well worth your time to review.
Among the interesting facts, MDN found these most interesting:
Read More “List of Biggest Drillers in Ohio, by Leased Acreage”
EV Energy’s Utica well in Stark County, Ohio is producing large quantities of light crude oil in addition to large quantities of natural gas liquids. EV Energy’s CEO, Mark Houser, said their well in Stark looks better in the early results than oil wells in the Eagle Ford basin in Texas. High praise indeed.
Because of what EV and others have found, drilling activity for oil and NGLs is moving to Stark, Tuscarawas, Guernsey and Noble counties.
Read More “EV Energy Strikes Oil & NGLs in Stark County, OH”
Like Pennsylvania, Ohio is experiencing drought conditions this summer. With drought conditions comes concerns that drilling companies use too much water from local rivers and streams (and other sources) for fracking. But also like PA, the amount of water used for fracking in Ohio is truly miniscule compared with other uses.
Until the recent passage of Senate Bill 315, Ohio could not control access to how much water is used by drilling companies. That’s now changed:
You may not get rich as a landowner of a small plot of ground by leasing it for gas drilling, but depending on where you live, even if you own just a half acre of land, you may be able to participate in Marcellus or Utica Shale drilling. That’s what happened with Belmont County when they recently discovered the county owns a half acre plot of land they previously didn’t know they owned. Gulfport Energy made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Read More “Would Drillers be Interested in a Half Acre? Yep”
[UPDATE BELOW] Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396 won a competitive grant process to receive funds for job development in the Utica and Marcellus Shale plays. Local 396 craftsmen consist of plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters, and HVAC/refrigeration fitters.
Read More “OH Union Wins Grant for Utica/Marcellus Job Development”
EV Energy Partners (EVEP) reported their 2Q12 financial results yesterday. EVEP is a master limited partnership controlled by oil & gas company EnerVest. They look for lower risk, long-term oil and gas properties, with investments in a number of oil and gas plays across the U.S., including the Utica and Marcellus. It seems they’re doing a good job. Their 2Q12 profits were up 20% from a year ago—to $66.1 million. Production for the second quarter of 2012 was up 47%—10.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas, 282,000 barrels of oil and 403,000 barrels of natural gas liquids, or 14.8 billion cubic feet equivalent.
The only direct quote in the press release from the CEO was in reference to their activities in the Utica Shale:
Read More “EV Energy Partners 2Q12 Update: Utica NGLs Now Producing”
How many jobs can Ohio expect from Utica Shale drilling? If it follows the same general path of Pennsylvania—and there’s no reason to expect it would not—for every job created in the oil and gas industry, two jobs are created in other industries to support it. It’s a 1:2 ratio.
Every new well drilled in PA created 30 jobs (in 2009) and $4 million in economic activity in the local economy. That is, shale gas drilling is hugely beneficial for both job creation and economic activity.
Read More “How Many Jobs will Utica Shale Drilling Create in Ohio?”
Devon Energy reports “not encouraging” results from two wells in Ohio’s Utica Shale, one in Ashland County, the other in neighboring Medina County—both in the northwestern corner of the Utica Shale in Ohio. Although Devon is not saying whether or not they will drill more wells in that area, they have indicated they will drill more wells to the east.
Read More “Devon Reports Disappointing Results in 2 NW OH Utica Wells”
Energy in Depth – Ohio has just launched a new portal to connect job seekers with companies that have jobs working in the Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling industry in Ohio.
Read More “Want a Job in Ohio’s Utica Shale? There’s a Website for that! [Free]”