ODNR issues permit for a Utica Shale well

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has issued a new permit for a Utica Shale well to Chesapeake Exploration LLC, a subsidiary of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp.

The permit is for a well in Lisbon on Laughlin Mill Road near Trinity Cemetery.

The horizontal well will extract resources by means of fracking, a process in which water, chemicals and sand are blasted into rocks thousands of feet below the ground to unlock natural gas and oil.

No Mahoning Valley wells currently are producing dry gas, wet gas or oil commercially, according to ODNR records.

The wells bring the tri-county area’s permit count to 37. There are permits for 28 wells in Columbiana County: seven in Hanover Township; four each in West, Franklin and Middleton townships; three in Washington Township; two each in Elk Run and Madison townships and one in Knox Township and Lisbon.

There are permits for nine Utica wells in Mahoning County: seven in Goshen Township and one each in Milton and Ellsworth townships.

There are no Utica Shale well permits for Trumbull County, the ODNR said.