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EIA adds Utica to productivity report
YOUNGSTOWN
Ohio’s Utica region continues to gain traction, as it was added to the drilling productivity report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The report covers six other regions with shale production: the Bakken of North Dakota, the Eagle Ford and Permian in Texas, the Haynesville of Louisiana, the Niobrara of Colorado and the Marcellus in Pennsylvania. The seven regions account for 95 percent of all domestic oil and natural-gas production growth from 2011 to 2013, according to the EIA.
“[The Utica] definitely seems to fit the profile,” said Sam Gorgen, an EIA analyst.
The drilling productivity report analyzes production growth in the region and provides a forecast based on the production and number of rigs.
The Utica region’s natural-gas production increased from 155 million cubic feet per day in January 2012 to an estimated 1.3 billion cubic feet per day in September 2014, according to the EIA.
Gorgen said the EIA received the rig data from the states where the shale regions are located. The EIA gained a “better glimpse” in tracking production growth in Ohio’s Utica when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources started releasing quarterly production reports, he said.
Bethany McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the ODNR, said quarterly reports on well production were introduced as part of Gov. John Kasich’s fiscal 2014-15 year, which was signed June 30, 2013.
The Utica is projected to produce 1.67 billion cubic feet of natural gas in December, up from 1.58 billion in November and 1.46 billion in October. The report also projects the Utica to produce more than 48,000 barrels of oil per day in December up from 44,000 in November.
McCorkle said Friday was the final day for companies to provide well-production results for the third-quarter report, which will be released this week.
“It’s really picking up in eastern Ohio,” Gorgen said.