Natural gas driller opens Canton office

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — An energy company tapping a major natural gas deposit in eastern Ohio has opened an office here and expects to create more than 70 jobs.

The Repository of Canton reports today that Chesapeake Energy will use the office as an interim operations base until it finds a permanent field office for drilling in the Utica shale formation.

Last month, Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy said it believes the 1.25 million acres it has leased above the Utica Shale formation in eastern Ohio is worth $15 billion to $20 billion.

Natural gas is extracted from shale by hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, a process that blasts chemical-laced water into the ground. Environmentalists have raised concerns about potential groundwater contamination.