Utica Shale

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Portage County | Utica Shale

New Utica Pipe/Equipment Plant Setting up in Portage County, OH
February 25, 2013February 25, 2013

A welding and fabrication company—Six C Fabrication—has just purchased a former plastics plant in Rootstown (Portage County), Ohio where it will establish a manufacturing plant for piping and structural steel equipment for the Utica Shale drilling industry.

Six C hails from Louisiana. They believe the Utica offers a great opportunity to expand their business. Another 100 new jobs are on the way (this year) in the Utica…

Read More “New Utica Pipe/Equipment Plant Setting up in Portage County, OH”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Still Loves the OH Utica Shale – 2012 Year in Review
February 22, 2013February 22, 2013

Estimating that it will recover 5 to 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalents from each well drilled in the Ohio Utica Shale, Chesapeake Energy says they still love the Ohio Utica Shale, even if oil isn’t a big part of the picture.

Chesapeake held an earnings call yesterday to discuss 2012 numbers with analysts. Akron Beacon Journal reporter Bob Downing listened in:

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Energy Companies | Rice Energy | Utica Shale

Rice Energy in Hunt for $400M to Develop Utica Shale Acreage
February 20, 2013February 20, 2013

Have an extra $400 million to spare? Rice Energy is looking for investors to help it develop their “significant holdings” in the Utica Shale. Rice Energy was founded by Dan Rice, the single most successful mutual fund manager in the United States over the past 10 years. Because the company he worked for, BlackRock, screwed up and didn’t tell investors about Dan’s extra circular activities with Rice Energy, they fired him last summer (see BlackRock’s Screw-up with Dan Rice & Rice Energy). Nice company.

Here’s the story about Rice Energy’s hunt for new investors for the Utica:

Read More “Rice Energy in Hunt for $400M to Develop Utica Shale Acreage”
Arrowhead Utica Pipelines | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trucking | Utica Shale

Hilcorp Subsidiary Leases Property for Utica Transfer Facility
February 19, 2013February 19, 2013

The Columbiana County Port Authority operates an industrial park in Wellsville, Ohio. Tucked into a story about road improvements the Port Authority is making at the park we learn that two subsidiaries of Utica Shale driller Hilcorp have leased two different parcels in the park: Arrowhead Utica Pipelines and Harvest Pipeline Co. The Port Authority is spending over $900,000 on road upgrades, largely to expand a road to the future site of a new shale gas transfer facility that will be built by Arrowhead.

The details:

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Economic Impact | Guernsey County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Taxation | Utica Shale

Guernsey County Shale: Businesses Expand, Millionaires Created
February 18, 2013February 18, 2013

More tales of companies starting, companies expanding, and new millionaires being created at a rapid rate—all because of Utica Shale drilling. This time it’s happening in Guernsey County, Ohio…

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Coshocton County | Ohio | Utica Shale

The Prospects for Utica Drilling in Coshocton & Muskingum, OH
February 18, 2013February 18, 2013

Drilling in Ohio’s Utica Shale took off like a rocket in 2012. It seemed a week did not go by without new permits to drill being issued in counties like Carroll, Guernsey, Belmont, Harrison and Noble. But two counties in eastern Ohio have not been caught up in the drilling frenzy, at least so far: Coshocton and Muskingum. Has drilling passed by them? Not according to officials in both counties.

The head of the Coshocton Port Authority says it’s early innings yet:

Read More “The Prospects for Utica Drilling in Coshocton & Muskingum, OH”
EMG | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Rex Energy | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

MarkWest Does Midstream Deal with Rex Energy in Utica Shale
February 15, 2013February 15, 2013

MarkWest Utica, a joint venture between MarkWest and EMG, announced today that they’ve signed up Rex Energy to provide pipeline gathering and processing services for Rex’s Utica Shale wells. Yesterday MDN told you about Rex’s big plans for the Marcellus and Utica Shale region (see Rex Energy Plans to Invest $200M on Marcellus/Utica Drilling in 2013). If you do a lot of new drilling, you’re going to need a way to get the gas to market. That’s what this deal does.

MarkWest says when their construction is done in 2014 they will have the largest processing and fractionation capacity in the entire Utica Shale. Here’s today’s announcement about their deal with Rex:

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Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Ohio Utica Shale: Permits, Wells & Rig Count
February 14, 2013February 14, 2013

The numbers continue to increase for permits issued and wells drilled in the Ohio Utica Shale. The latest report from the Akron Beacon Journal, including the number of active drilling rigs in the Ohio Utica:

Read More “Ohio Utica Shale: Permits, Wells & Rig Count”
Anadarko | Athens County | Encore Energy | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Meigs County | Monroe County | Morgan County | Noble County | Ohio | Utica Shale | Washington County (OH)

Encore Energy to Anadarko: We’ve Got OH Land for You
February 14, 2013February 14, 2013

A for-profit company that pools acreage from both landowners that want to lease their land, and from energy companies with leases who want to re-sell those leases, is trying to get the attention of Anadarko and other drillers in the Ohio Utica Shale. Encore Energy issued a press release yesterday announcing they have land available for lease. They specifically tap Anadarko on the shoulder to tell them they have 1,300 Utica Shale acres “just 3 miles” from land they’re already drilling on in Washington County, OH.

Encore is shopping more than 18,000 acres across a number of Ohio counties, including Morgan, Washington, Noble, Guernsey, Monroe, Athens and Meigs. Here’s their “hey Anadarko, pay attention” press release:

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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Gulfport Purchases More Utica Shale Leases for $10K/Acre
February 12, 2013February 12, 2013

$10,000 per acre seems to be the price Gulfport is willing to pay other energy companies to take over their acreage in the Ohio Utica Shale. Last December Gulfport paid $10K/acre for 30,000 acres (see Gulfport Adds Another 30K Utica Net Acres, Pays $10K/Acre). Yesterday Gulfport announced they’ve purchased another 22,000 acres from the same company, Windsor Ohio (a division of Wexford Capital), also for $10K/acre. This new acreage bumps Gulfport’s Utica Shale lease holdings to 137,000 acres.

Yesterday’s Gulfport announcement about their latest Utica purchase:

Read More “Gulfport Purchases More Utica Shale Leases for $10K/Acre”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Tennessee Gas Pipeline | Utica Shale

TGP Seeks to Convert Pipeline into Utica Wet Gas Gathering Line
February 7, 2013February 7, 2013

The Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. recent made a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) declaring its intention to convert an existing “lean gas” pipeline in the Ohio Utica Shale into a gathering pipeline to move wet gas from the Utica to market. TGP is getting a lot of pushback from existing pipeline customers that would be affected by the change:

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

PDC Energy Dumps Piceance to Concentrate on Ohio Utica
February 7, 2013February 7, 2013

PDC Energy, formerly known as Petroleum Development Corp., announced Tuesday they are selling off “non-core” assets in the Piceance Basin (northwestern Colorado) and assets they own in northeastern Colorado for $200 million so they can invest the money in wet gas drilling in the Ohio Utica and Niobrara Shale plays.

PDC’s announcement from Tuesday:

Read More “PDC Energy Dumps Piceance to Concentrate on Ohio Utica”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation | Utica Shale

Details of OH Gov. Kasich’s Utica Shale Severance Tax Hike
February 6, 2013February 6, 2013

Ohio Gov. John Kasich released his budget for fiscal years 2014 & 2015 yesterday, and along with it, he resurrected the same plan he first introduced a year ago to increase severance tax on oil and gas production in the Utica Shale (see Details on Ohio Gov. Kasich’s New Tax on Shale Drilling). The plan in a nutshell: Hike the severance tax on Utica Shale drilling, then spread the new-found wealth around to buy votes to get re-elected.

Here’s a summary of the coming changes (and make no mistake, the plan will pass this time):

Read More “Details of OH Gov. Kasich’s Utica Shale Severance Tax Hike”
Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Ohio: 512 Utica Shale Permits Issued, 223 Utica Wells Drilled
February 6, 2013February 6, 2013

The numbers keep racking up for Utica Shale permits and wells drilled in Ohio. According to the latest report from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, Ohio has now approved 512 permits for Utica Shale drilling and the state has 27 drilling rigs busy at work in the Utica right now. So the numbers will continue to rapidly rise for the foreseeable future.

Here’s the particulars of where permits and drilling are taking place, including two helpful interactive maps:

Read More “Ohio: 512 Utica Shale Permits Issued, 223 Utica Wells Drilled”
Devon Energy | Energy Companies | Utica Shale

Devon Energy Puts 240K Acres of Utica Shale Leases Up for Sale
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

On Wednesday Devon Energy Corp. confirmed it’s selling off all of its holdings in both the Ohio Utica and Louisiana Tuscaloosa Marine Shale. Between the two shale plays, the company is hoping to raise about $3 billion. Devon’s Utica Shale holdings include 244,000 gross acres (195,000 net) in eastern Ohio in the liquids-rich portion of the play. Devon has hired Scotiabank’s Scotia Waterous (USA) Inc. M&A division to handle the sale. A map of Devon’s eastern Ohio Utica property is embedded below.

Read More “Devon Energy Puts 240K Acres of Utica Shale Leases Up for Sale”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Stark County | Utica Shale

Stark County, OH Labor & Business on Same Page: Frack Here
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

When was the last time local governments, labor unions, businesses, chambers of commerce and construction contractors were all on the same page? Yeah, we can’t remember that time either. Except it’s here—now. And it’s happening in Stark County, Ohio were all of those groups have come together to kick off a new initiative they call Choose Stark—an outreach to encourage Utica Shale drilling and fracking in Stark County.

We say that’s pretty cool and a lesson for other regions to consider:

Read More “Stark County, OH Labor & Business on Same Page: Frack Here”