Utica Shale

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

OH Utica Leasing Agent’s Acreage Grows to 1/4 Million
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

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:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OH Utica Shale Drilling Will Continue Rapid Expansion in 2013
January 2, 2013January 2, 2013

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:

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Antero Resources | Ashland County | Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Devon Energy | HG Energy | Medina County | Monroe County | Noble County | Ohio | Portage County | Stark County | Utica Shale

Flip Side: Some OH Utica Shale Wells Get Plugged/Abandoned
January 2, 2013January 2, 2013

When it comes to drilling in the Ohio Utica Shale, a lot of attention has been focused on the ramp up in activity—the growing number of drilling rigs, huge land lease deals, and eye-popping initial production results for some of the wells drilled. But there is another side to the story.

Every now and again, a well does not produce. Could be the driller did not properly find the shale layer (extremely rare). Could be they did find it but for whatever reason the layer doesn’t produce in that area. More likely there were problems during the drilling that caused the work to be stopped—like a broken-off drill bit. In Ohio, there have been nine Utica Shale wells that have been plugged and abandoned (so far). Here’s where they are located and who did the drilling:

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

Chesapeake Energy’s Huge Vote of Confidence in Ohio’s Utica Shale
January 2, 2013January 2, 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:

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Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Ohio | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

Trumbull County’s First Utica Shale Well Now in Process
December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

Although BP is the largest leaseholder for Utica Shale drilling in Trumbull County, OH with 84,000 acres under lease, Halcon Resources, which purchased 15,000 acres of leases from Carrizo Oil & Gas in October (see this MDN story), is the first to put drill bit to earth and is currently drilling the county’s very first horizontal Utica Shale well:

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Antero Resources | Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Monroe County | Ohio | PDC Energy | Utica Shale

11 New Utica Shale Drilling Permits in OH, as of Dec 12
December 28, 2012December 28, 2012

The latest round of permits to drill new Utica Shale wells from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) includes 11 new permits, 8 of which went to Chesapeake Energy.

Here’s the latest Ohio Utica permit report (with grand totals by county) as of Dec. 12:

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Energy Companies | EV Energy Partners | Utica Shale

EV Energy Partners Utica Acreage Sale Delayed Until 2013
December 24, 2012December 24, 2012

Last week MDN told you to be on the lookout for a sale by EV Energy Partners (EVEP) of their Utica Shale acreage (see this MDN story). EVEP’s Executive Chairman, John Walker, said in November the company was looking to sell its interest in 100,000 operated acres by the end of 2012. Looks like that was a tad optimistic on Walker’s part…

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Utica Shale

The Undeniable Progress from Utica Shale Drilling
December 24, 2012December 24, 2012

The Warren, Ohio Tribune Chronicle ran an editorial yesterday that takes a look at the profound impact Utica Shale drilling has had on the Mahoning Valley area of Ohio. As part of that editorial, they make the following worthwhile (and astute) observations:

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Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OSU Group Connects Students with Drilling Industry in Ohio
December 24, 2012December 24, 2012

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:

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Antero Resources | Chesapeake Energy | CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Hilcorp Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale | XTO

New Utica Permits for Hilcorp, Chesapeake, Others
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

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:

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Status Report on Chesapeake’s Utica Shale Drilling Program
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

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”
Anadarko | Chesapeake Energy | Chevron | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnerVest | Exxon Mobil | Gulfport Energy | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Motley Fool’s “Ubiquitous in the Utica”
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

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):

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Blue Racer Midstream | Caiman Energy | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Utica Shale | West Virginia | Williams

Dominion, Caiman in $1.5B Utica JV: Blue Racer Midstream
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Two large midstream (pipeline & processing plant) companies, Dominion and Caiman Energy II, announced a new $1.5 billion, 50/50 joint venture to form a new midstream services company to service the Utica Shale in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The name of the new company is Blue Racer Midstream. Sound familiar? It should. Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Williams is investing $380 million in Caiman Energy/Blue Racer (see this MDN story).Williams owns nearly half of Caiman Energy II (47.5%).

One of the core assets of the new Blue Racer Midstream company will be Dominion’s previously announced $500 million natural gas liquids processing plant in Natrium, WV (see this MDN story). The Natrium plant was scheduled to go online by Dec. 31—a deadline that won’t be met. However, work on the new NGL plant continues at a “furious pace” and the plant will be online in early 2013. Dominion’s extensive gathering pipeline system in eastern Ohio is also part of the deal.

Read More “Dominion, Caiman in $1.5B Utica JV: Blue Racer Midstream”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

United Airlines Beginning Flights from OK to OH
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Don’t tell Ohio Gov. John Kasich, but more “foreigners” (i.e. out-of-state oil and gas workers) are coming to Ohio, and they’re doing it using (gasp) commercial airlines. Call the TSA! Beef up the border guards! If you’re not quite sure what MDN is referring to, see this MDN story for background.

A sure sign that Ohio’s Utica Shale is undergoing a rapid expansion is that United Airlines has just announced they will begin offering nonstop flights between Oklahoma City and Cleveland in February. The new flights begin on Valentine’s Day—giving Gov. Kasich a big metaphorical kiss on the smacker. Here’s the new news:

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BP | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

BP: Trumbull County Needs More Pipelines, Processing Plants
December 18, 2012December 18, 2012

Yesterday at a press conference in Youngstown, OH, BP announced plans to move into a new office and warehouse space in the Youngstown Commerce Park (see this MDN story). At the same event, BP officials spoke about their concerns that pipeline and processing plant infrastructure in Trumbull and surrounding counties may be quickly overwhelmed once BP’s drilling program is in full swing.

What do BP’s public comments mean? More pipelines and processing plants are likely on the way in Trumbull County:

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BP | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

BP Moves into New Utica Shale Digs, Drilling Starts January
December 18, 2012December 18, 2012

Important Update: BP will not start drilling test wells until April 2013, not January as indicated in the headline (and as quoted in the story below). The news source quoted by MDN was inaccurate! Many thanks (and a hat tip) to MDN friend Andrea Wood, Publisher of the Youngstown Business Journal, for taking the time to notify us of the error.

BP announced yesterday they have begun moving into the company’s new “Utica Operations Center,” a 5,000 square foot office space with 38,000 sq ft of warehouse/storage space located in the Youngstown Commerce Park in North Jackson (Mahoning County), Ohio. BP aggressively leased Ohio Utica Shale acreage during 2012—signing up some 100,000 acres of leases this year. Of the Ohio acreage leased by BP, the vast majority (84,000 acres) is in Trumbull County, close to the new office space.

Ohio landowners who signed with BP, and businesses interested in supplying BP with products and services, will be interested to know BP plans to start drilling their first Utica Shale test wells in January 2013 (more details below).

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