SALEM, Ohio — The applications for new Utica shale wells appear to have slowed in August, as only 38 permits were issued statewide by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Belmont County
Sites in Belmont County received 12 permits in August, the most of any Ohio county.
Five permits were issued for sites in Flushing Township to Hess Ohio Developments. An additional five permits were issued in Kirkwood Township, also to Hess Ohio Developments. Another two were issued in Wheeling Township to American Energy Utica.
According to the ODNR, there are now 32 wells in some sort of drilling phase and another 32 producing in Belmont County.
Guernsey County
In Guernsey County, the ODNR issued 10 new permits in August. Eight of those permits were issued in Londonderry Township, where five permits went to Eclipse Resources, and three to American Energy Utica.
There are 53 wells drilled in Guernsey County and 33 producing wells.
Harrison County
The ODNR issued 10 new permits in Harrison County, including four new permits in Moorefield Township to American Energy Utica. In Nottingham Township, three permits were issued to American Energy Utica, and in North Township, three permits were issued to Chesapeake Exploration.
Carroll County
Four permits were issued in Perry Township, Carroll County, to Chesapeake Exploration.
There are now 257 producing wells in the county and 107 in some drilling phase.
Single permits
In Jefferson County, a single permit was issued in Salem Township to Chesapeake Exploration. There are now 14 producing wells in Jefferson County and 15 drilled.
In Noble County, one permit was issued in Seneca Township to Antero Resources Corporation.
There are 43 producing wells in Noble County and 51 wells in some sort of drilling phase.
Pennsylvania
The permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection don’t appear to be slowing down. The DEP issued 230 new wells permits and 41 permits to drill deeper in unconventional gas wells in August.
Greene County
Greene County surpassed Bradford County in the number of permits issued in August. The DEP issued 49 permits there, 31 for new wells and 18 permits to dig deeper.
In Bradford County, the DEP issued 44 permits. Of the 44 permits, 39 are for new wells and five are for the ability to drill deeper.
Washington County
The DEP issued 22 new permits for Washington County and four so that drillers can dig deeper in existing wells.
Butler County
In Butler County, the DEP issued 24 new permits for new wells during the month of August.
Other counties
Drilling unconventional wells may be heating up in Lawrence County, where the DEP issued 10 new permits for drilling.
In Beaver County, the DEP issued two new permits for unconventional wells, and in Mercer County, there was one permit issued for a gas well there.
Totals
So far in 2014, the DEP has issued permits for 1,969 unconventional wells across Pennsylvania. An additional 263 well permits to drill deeper have also been issued.
The geographic leaders for the number of permits issued include Bradford County with 419 permits; 297 permits in Greene County and 281 in Washington County.
West Virginia
In West Virginia, the Department of Environmental Protection issued 23 new permits during August.
In Wetzel County, seven permits were issued to three different companies. Three permits were issued to the EQT Production Company for horizontal wells to be drilled on land owned by Coastal Forest Resources Co. Another two permits were issued to Trans Energy Inc. for a well to be drilled on land owned by the state of West Virginia. And the final two were issued to HG Energy for land owned by Dale K. Dulaney.
In Tyler County, five permits were issued to the Antero Resources Corporation for two pieces of property. One permit was issued for a well to be drilled on land owned by Robert L. Ripley, et. al. The other four were issued for land owned by Lloyd C. Seckman.
In Monongalia County, five permits were issued for horizontal wells to be drilled by Northeast Natural Energy on land owned by the Coastal Forest Resources Company.
Ohio County
The DEP issued four permits in Ohio County for new horizontal shale wells. The permits were issued to Chesapeake Appalachia for two different property owners. One permit was issued for land owned by the Short Creek Coal Company. The remaining four were issued for land owned by Alice Mae Edge.
Marshall County
Two new permits were issued for drilling in Marshall County. The DEP issued the permits to Noble Energy, Inc. but one was for land owned by the Consol Mining Company and another is for land owned by the Murray Energy Corporation.
