ODNR released 3Q shale production report

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Oil and natural-gas production from Ohio’s Utica Shale wells increased significantly in the third quarter of this year.

Horizontal shale wells produced more than 3 million barrels of oil and 132 billion metric cubic feet of natural gas in the third quarter of 2014, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ report issued Friday.

Oil production increased by more than 546,000 barrels and gas by more than 43 billion cubic feet compared with the previous quarter.

“The play continues to move south where production remains limited to seven counties east of Interstate 77,” Senior Vice President Shawn Bennett of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association said in an email.

The report lists production results for 674 out of 717 wells. Ohio’s highest-producing oil well was in Noble County at 50,159 barrels of oil.

The state’s highest- producing natural-gas well was in Monroe County at 1.7 billion Mcf.

In the Mahoning Valley, the highest-producing oil well was the CNX Gas Co.’s Hendricks well in Mahoning County at 9,677 barrels of oil.

The Valley’s highest- producing natural-gas well was Chesapeake Exploration’s Albaneso 24-14-4 well in Columbiana County at 452 million Mcf.

“The tools we are learning from the development of today’s wells will help operators become more efficient and gain better production, which will lead to more development in core adjacent areas like the Mahoning Valley,” Bennett said.