ODNR Issues 10 Permits in Utica Shale

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued 10 new permits for horizontal wells in eastern Ohio’s Utica shale last week, the agency reports.

According to ODNR’s latest drilling update, five wells are targeted for Monroe County – three of them secured by Eclipse Resources and two by CNX Gas Company LLC.  

Ascent Resources was awarded two permits for wells in Jefferson County, Gulfport Appalachia and Rice Drilling received a permit each for wells in Belmont County, and Utica Resource Operating LLC secured a single permit for a well in Guernsey County.

As of April 27, ODNR had issued 3,071 permits in the Utica shale. Of that number, 2,581 are drilled and 2,179 are in production.

Permit and drilling activity has concentrated on the southeastern portion of the state, where the most productive oil and natural gas wells are located, data show.

As of April 27, there were 17 rigs operating across the Utica, four more than the previous week, according to ODNR. 

There were no permits issued in the northern section of the Utica shale, which includes Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.  

Nor were there new permits issued in the neighboring Utica region of Mercer and Lawrence counties in western Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. 

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