JobsOhio Still Loves the Utica Shale – MDN Interview
Yesterday MDN highlighted a newly published Cleveland State University study commissioned (and paid for) by the nonprofit JobsOhio (see JobsOhio “Study” Says Ohio Should be H2 Hub, but Don’t Use Utica Gas). We took strong exception to a statement on page 3 in the study that says, “Although Ohio probably can meet all of its hydrogen markets through SMR [shale gas], it would not be desirable to do so.” JobsOhio reached out to MDN to clarify that statement and to assure us that JobsOhio has been, and remains, a strong supporter of Utica Shale gas and the drilling industry in the state.
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KeyState LLC is developing 7,000 acres of natural gas fields and geological storage in West Keating Township, Clinton County in the middle of coal and iron country in central Pennsylvania (see 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia are all scrambling to form intrastate working groups or other alliances in an attempt to be THE state chosen for one of four regional hydrogen hubs funded by the recently passed so-called Biden infrastructure bill (see 
Last Friday the Utica Energy Alliance (UEA), which represents hundreds of landowners, businesses, community leaders and allies of the shale industry, sent a letter to the entire Ohio Congressional delegation asking the state’s Senators and Congresspeople to stand behind the U.S. initiative to support the European Union by promoting Ohio’s (and the entire Marcellus/Utica region’s) production of natural gas. The UEA says using American natgas is the only way for Europe to end reliance on Russian energy and put an end to funding Putin’s war machine. The group requested a written response from each member. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a response from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.
On Monday MDN brought you big news from Bloomberg that Gulfport Energy is in talks with Ascent Resources to merge (see 
PTT Global Chemical has reimbursed JobsOhio, the state’s private economic development office, $20 million for failing to make a final investment decision (FID) to build a multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker plant project in Belmont County, OH. JobsOhio paid Bechtel Corp. $20 million in 2019 to complete site engineering and site preparation for the project, with a promise from PTT that it would soon make an FID and move forward with construction. That never happened, so PTT is paying up because it didn’t live up to its end of the bargain. Interestingly, PTT maintains it is “committed to building the multi-billion dollar project.” Right.
It’s been about 3½ years since Encino Energy in partnership with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board closed on buying Chesapeake Energy’s Ohio Utica assets for $2 billion (see 
Public company Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy less than a year ago, in May 2021, with a new board and new top management (see 
In the early days of the Marcellus and Utica Shale, a number of studies and predictions were made about how the industry would bring tens of thousands of jobs and inject billions of dollars into state economies. In Ohio, a Cleveland State University (CSU) report issued in 2012 predicted that Ohio’s then-growing fracking industry would add 66,000 direct and indirect jobs and $5 billion a year to the state’s economy by the end of 2014 (see 
Last November MDN told you about a brand new organization called the Utica Energy Alliance (see 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia are all scrambling to form working groups or other alliances in an attempt to be THE state chosen for one of four regional hydrogen hubs funded by the recently passed so-called Biden infrastructure bill. The new law provides $8 billion for four regional hubs. It’s a safe bet one of those hubs will be located in either PA, OH, or WV. The race is now on to attract that investment money. On Friday, WV’s new Hydrogen Hub Working Group held its first meeting to plot a strategy to snag the project. However, PA and OH are in the hunt too, with their own dedicated groups.