Ohio has joined the “200 Club”. As of last week, more than 200 horizontal shale wells have now been drilled in the Utica Shale, according to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). Of those 200+ wells drilled, 47 are currently producing.
Here’s where the drilling hot spots are located:
Read More “Ohio Passes 200 Drilled Utica Shale Wells, New Permits Keep Coming”
Trumbull County, Ohio apparently has a new driller. No permits have been issued yet, but local land deeds show that Lario Oil and Gas, a Kansas-based company, has leased the mineral rights for “hundreds of acres” in Newton Township. They say they have leased thousands of acres in eastern Ohio:
Hess Corporation announced its plans for 2013 yesterday. Among those plans—drill a lot more unconventional (i.e. shale) wells. Some of the drilling they’ve budgeted for 2013 includes “appraisal wells” in the Ohio Utica Shale.
From the Hess announcement:
Read More “Hess Announces 2013 Plans, Includes Ohio Utica Drilling”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who loves the money from “foreign” oil and gas companies (foreign as in Oklahoma and Texas) flowing into the state, but doesn’t care for “foreign workers” from those states, and Gov. John Kasich who wants to tax gas drillers more so he can spread the wealth around to everyone, is behind the eight ball when it comes to leasing state-owned land for shale gas drilling.
Kasich is more than a year behind in appointing a five-member commission to oversee leasing of state park and state forest mineral rights:
Read More “Kasich Now 1+ Year Late in Appointing State Land Lease Commission”
Chesapeake Energy takes security in and around it’s drill sites seriously—so much so they employ 24 full-time security officers to conduct roving patrols in an eight-county region in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
Security for Chesapeake, however, involves far more than driving by a drill site and rattling a chained fence…
Read More “Chesapeake’s Drilling Security – A Serious Business”
In July MDN told you about Encore Energy, a horizontal well operator formed last year and headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, that’s acting as a leasing agent for a large tract of Utica Shale acreage. At the time they advertised they “have access to” 175,000 acres in Ohio (see Encore Energy Shopping 175K Utica Shale Acres in OH). That number has grown. Encore is advertising they have now have access and rights to lease a quarter of a million acres in the Ohio Utica.
Wanting to remind drillers they’re still around and have land deals to lease, they issued another press release on Wednesday:
Read More “OH Utica Leasing Agent’s Acreage Grows to 1/4 Million”
Some interesting facts about Ohio Utica Shale drilling for 2012, and predictions for 2013…Fact number one: There are 45 producing horizontal Utica Shale wells in Ohio as of Dec. 31, 2012. They produce 40% as much natural gas as all 64,000 vertical-only natural gas wells in the state produce. (You read that right!) Conclusion: When Ohio reaches 113 producing Utica Shale wells (sometime in 2013), it will equal the entire natural gas production of all 64K vertical natural gas wells in the state. Behold the miracle of hydraulic fracturing.
Here’s a few more fascinating facts about Ohio’s Utica Shale drilling in 2012, and predictions for what’s ahead in 2013:
Read More “OH Utica Shale Drilling Will Continue Rapid Expansion in 2013”
Chesapeake Energy is the largest driller (by far) in the Ohio Utica Shale—a situation not likely to change any time soon. Chesapeake is in love with Ohio’s Utica Shale.
Here’s a rundown of their drilling operations in the Ohio Utica, including how many wells drilled (to date), how much they’ve invested in the state, and their plans for 2013:
Read More “Chesapeake Energy’s Huge Vote of Confidence in Ohio’s Utica Shale”
Do you live in eastern Ohio, have heard about the Utica Shale boom and want a job in the industry? Here’s a handy list of job center locations, phone numbers and websites to help you with your job search:
Read More “Utica Shale Job Search Resources in Eastern Ohio”
In May 2012, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR), the state agency that oversees the permitting and drilling of oil and gas wells, set a goal of tripling the number of well inspectors by the end of 2012—which would mean having 90 inspectors on staff. The agency has struggled with a heavy load of inspections due to a ramp up in Utica Shale drilling.
So, did ODNR meet its goal?
Read More “Checking Up: Did ODNR Meet Goal of 90 Well Inspectors?”
In an article about the merger of a local land conservancy group with a larger, regional conservancy group in Ohio—the Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC)—MDN spotted remarks that indicate land conservancies have an anti-drilling philosophy, which raises the issue of whether or not you should support them or sign an agreement with them if you’re a landowner.
Remarks from the president of Little Beaver Creek Land Foundation (LBCLF), the local land conservancy group that merged with the WRLC:
Read More “OH Land Conservancies Try to Prevent Utica Drilling”
What is it about states like Texas that causes Ohio’s Gov. John Kasich to view them as “foreign” and their citizens as “foreigners” (see this MDN story). An anal retentive fixation on the part of Kasich? Perhaps.
His fixation is in full bloom again. Kasich reports he recently went on some “foreign travel”—to Houston, Texas—where he had private discussions about raising taxes. Kasich also has a fixation on raising taxes on the drilling industry in Ohio so he can “spread the wealth” around to everyone:
Read More “OH Gov. Kasich Keeps Beating the Higher Drilling Tax Drum”
Two Ohio State University students from the Youngstown, OH area have started the Buckeye Shale Energy Organization, a student group aimed at connecting students with the state’s shale oil and gas industry:
Read More “OSU Group Connects Students with Drilling Industry in Ohio”
The latest permits issued last week by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) for Utica Shale drilling include permits for Hilcorp, Chesapeake, Gulfport, XTO, CNX Gas and Antero.
Here’s the details on which counties and for how many wells:
Read More “New Utica Permits for Hilcorp, Chesapeake, Others”
Chesapeake Energy is the second largest natural gas producer in the United States, behind ExxonMobil. If you’ve followed the shale gas drilling space for any length of time, you no doubt have heard about Chesapeake’s “problems” this past year. Their main problem is overextension: Leasing too much acreage without possessing enough money to drill on it. A further complication has been the low price of natural gas, meaning Chesapeake doesn’t make as much profit when they do drill. Too many bills to pay, not enough cash to pay them. The solution? Sell some of your assets.
Read More “Status Report on Chesapeake’s Utica Shale Drilling Program”
The Motley Fool investing website published a “round-up” type of article two days ago that focuses on the major players (drillers) in the Marcellus Shale (see this MDN story), part of a series that looks at major energy plays in the U.S. Yesterday they continued the series with an article that looks in detail at the Utica Shale.
The article starts off by listing the top 7 companies by the amount of acreage they lease. They are (from highest to lowest amount of acreage):