ODNR grants another permit in Columbiana County for shale drilling

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

It is the tri-county area’s 30th Utica Shale well permit.

The permit is for a well in Columbiana County’s West Township, between Lynchburg and Watson roads just north of state Route 30.

ODNR also reported that three wells in Columbiana County are ready to be fracked; another, in West Township, has been fracked.

Fracking is the 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 are currently producing dry gas, wet gas or oil, according to ODNR records.

There are permits for 21 wells in Columbiana County: five in Hanover Township, four in West Township, three each in Washington, Franklin and Middleton townships, and one each in Knox, Madison and Elk Run townships.

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 current Utica Shale well permits for Trumbull County, according to the ODNR.