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USGS Releases Official Estimate of Oil & Gas in Utica Shale
October 5, 2012October 5, 2012

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has just released their first official assessment (i.e. estimate) of how much recoverable natural gas, oil and gas liquids is located in the Utica Shale throughout Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and Virginia (a full copy of the USGS assessment is embedded below).

The USGS estimates the Utica is #3 in size behind the Marcellus (#1) and Green River Basin (#2) for volume of recoverable natural gas in the U.S. Here are the numbers from the USGS, along with and a brief introduction to their first-ever assessment of the Utica:

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Anadarko | Devon Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Ohio’s Less Than Stellar Results from Oil Drilling
October 5, 2012October 5, 2012

The story line for development of the Marcellus and Utica Shale going back to the beginning of this year was, “Drillers are leaving the dry gas areas and going after wet gas,” meaning natural gas liquids. Why? Because the price for liquids is more favorable. That meant drilling activity was lessening in places like northeast Pennsylvania and (supposedly) moving to southwest PA, northern WV and eastern OH. To some degree that has happened.

However, the price for natural gas liquids has fallen due an abundance created by Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling. So the more recent story has been a move toward drilling for crude oil, especially in Ohio. But drilling for crude in Ohio isn’t working out so well—at least for some drillers.

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Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

New IHS Report Compares OH Utica Shale to TX Eagle Ford Shale
October 4, 2012October 4, 2012

IHS Cera, a global consulting and information service, recently published a new report on the Utica Shale and its potential. Although MDN has not seen the full report, the press release announcing the report contains a good bit of useful information about the IHS findings. IHS compares the Utica to the highly productive Eagle Ford Shale in Texas, saying there are many parallels, but cautioning it’s still very early in the game.

Here’s the full release with lots of juicy tidbits, including which well has produced the most oil in the Ohio Utica:

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Ohio | Statewide OH

ODNR Announces Third Ohio State Geologist This Year
October 1, 2012October 1, 2012

Do we now have a conclusion to the unhappy tale of a state geologist for Ohio? You may recall MDN’s coverage of the firing of Ohio state geologist Larry Wickstrom earlier this year when he released a map showing revised boundaries for the Utica Shale formation, boundaries indicating where “the best places” to drill are located (see this MDN story). That map apparently ticked off Wickstrom’s bosses at ODNR. Wickstrom had been an employee of the ODNR Geological Survey division for 29 years but he was shown the door.

After Wickstrom we had an interim state geologist, Mac Swinford, who announced a new Utica Shale boundary map due out in September (see this MDN story). No idea if Swinford’s map announcement had anything to do with the latest ODNR announcement or not, but as of Friday, we now have a new, officially anointed, full-time, non-interim state geologist: Thomas J. Serenko.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Ohio: $17.5B in Economic Activity from Drilling 2011-2014
September 27, 2012September 27, 2012

Linda Woggon, executive vice president of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and executive director of the Ohio Shale Coalition, said at a meeting yesterday that shale drilling in Ohio is on track to pump a total of $17.5 billion into the Ohio economy from 2011 to 2014 and generate 65,000 jobs. It will also bring in an additional $795 million in taxes over the same time period—with no increases on taxpayers.

Here’s a few of the highlights from her talk at a breakfast hosted by the Salem Area Chamber Area of Commerce on Wednesday:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Michigan | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide MI | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

NRDC Launches Lawyers to Oppose Fracking in 5 States
September 25, 2012September 25, 2012

You have to say one thing about the increasingly shrill Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)—they don’t let an issue they can demagogue for money go to waste. For the NRDC, there’s money to be made in opposing fracking. Warning to the drilling industry: The NRDC is well-funded and is gunning for you. Their latest offensive? They’ve created something called the Community Fracking Defense Project whereby they’ll launch lawyers out into any township across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and North Carolina to assist that town in opposing fracking. (Sorry West Virginia, you aren’t important enough for the NRDC to spend time and money on.)

The fight over fracking is about to go very local, and get very nasty, with the NRDC pumping millions into the effort to make mischief.

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Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH

Ohio Regents Launch Website to Link Ohioans to Energy Jobs
September 25, 2012September 25, 2012

Looking for a great job in the booming energy sector in Ohio? The Ohio Board of Regents wants to help. They’ve just released a new website, OhioEnergyPathways.org, to help Ohioans find jobs in green energy, shale energy, and other parts of the expanding energy sector in the state.

MDN noticed at least one bug with the new site, if you’re clicking to view open positions. But don’t let that stop you. The site offers links to training programs, it offers businesses the opportunity to list open positions and search resumes, and it allows job seekers to search for jobs and post resumes (with links to the OhioMeansJobs.com website filtering for energy-related jobs).

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Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Total | Utica Shale

French Company Total Says “Non, Merci” to More Utica Shale
September 24, 2012September 24, 2012

In December 2011, French energy giant Total purchased a 25 percent ownership stake in Chesapeake Energy’s Ohio Utica Shale leases for 10 Ohio counties for $2.3 billion. In May, Total paid Chesapeake another $2 billion for a 90% stake in 9,000 leases in Columbiana County, OH (see this MDN story).

It seemed like Total was going full speed ahead with purchases of shale acreage in the Utica Shale. Not any more.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

NRDC Tries to Peddle Anti-Fracking Message in Ohio
September 21, 2012September 21, 2012

Ohioans beware: The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an anti-drilling group, is attempting to export their “ban fracking” message from New York to Ohio.

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Coshocton County | Guernsey County | Ohio | Statewide OH

8 New Utica Shale Permits Issued Last Week in Ohio
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

The latest information (for last week) shows eight new drilling permits issued for Ohio’s Utica Shale, including one permit in Coshocton County, and four permits in Guernsey County:

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Energy Companies | Hess | Ohio | Statewide OH

Hess Buys NatGas Contracts Division of Delta Energy
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

Energy giant Hess Corp. announced yesterday it is buying the natural gas marketing division of Delta Energy. Delta is based in Dublin, Ohio. What Hess is buying are energy contracts—the right to sell natural gas to a certain list of commercial and industrial customers. Hess is a huge company with operations that span upstream (drilling new wells) to midstream (pipelines, processing and terminals) to downstream (selling oil and gas to end user customers). Hess owns leases for 185,000 Utica Shale acres in Ohio and seems to be making moves to increase its presence in the state for all of its operations.

More on the Hess purchase from Delta:

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Energy Companies | EnerVest | Ohio | Statewide OH

EnerVest Puts 539,000 Utica Shale Acres on Auction Block
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

EnerVest has put leases for 539,000 Utica Shale acres in Ohio on the auction block and hopes to get more than $6 billion dollars for it. That would be something north of $11,000 per acre. Pretty optimistic, but hey, you never know!

Apparently EnerVest is the accidental energy company who just happened to amass a 3/4 of a million acres of leases some time ago and now wants to take advantage by selling some of it. From the Wall Street Journal:

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Ohio | Statewide OH

Utica Shale Permits/Drilling Update for Ohio – August 2012
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) releases updates on Utica Shale permits and drilling each week. The numbers for August permits, along with cumulative totals for all permits issued and wells fracked and drilled, is shown in the handy table below. What do the latest numbers say? Of the 21 counties where there either has been or is permitting and drilling, the hot spot is Carroll County. Last month Carroll County saw 25 new permits issued for Utica wells, all of them issued to Chesapeake Energy.

Here’s a rundown on the latest numbers, telling you where, and how much, Utica Shale drilling is happening in Ohio:

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CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

CONSOL Exec Says Utica Pipelines are Critical Need
September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

Harry Schurr, general manager of Utica operations for CONSOL Energy’s CNX Gas, puts pipelines at the top of his wish list for what he needs in the Utica Shale. Schurr made the following comments a day after the NEXUS Gas Transmission was announced last week:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Statewide OH

Interesting News from YOUNG for OH Landowners, Job Seekers
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

The Youngstown Ohio Utica and Natural Gas Conference and Expo (or the “YOUNG Expo” as it’s called), held yesterday and today at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, OH, has become a major regional event in the Utica Shale. With more than 1,500 people attending yesterday and more than 100 vendors, YOUNG is not only a great place for businesses to connect and job seekers to find work, it’s also a news generator.

The Youngstown Business Journal picked up on the following revelation during a presentation from Nisource that will interest landowners in Mahoning County:

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

New Marcellus/Utica Shale Supply Chain Website Launches
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

The Youngstown Business Journal and Farris Marketing today launch a new Marcellus and Utica Shale supply chain connection website called ShaleLink.com. The website offers free listings for businesses interested in in selling (or buying) services related to the shale oil and gas industry. But there’s a catch: Your business has to be located in either Ohio or Pennsylvania to be listed for free.

Here’s the press release/story from the ShaleLink.com website describing the new service:

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