YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Columbiana County’s Utica/Point Pleasant shale wells produced more oil during the first quarter of 2026 than any previous three-month period, setting a county record as new wells helped drive output, according to the latest production data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Wells in the county’s Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation pumped out 543,905 barrels of oil during the quarter, surpassing the previous record of 478,811 barrels set during the second quarter of 2025, ODNR records show.
Records show that oil output for all of Columbiana County’s 95 wells during the previous quarter stood at 307,985 barrels.
Much of the oil production during the first quarter of 2026 came from five wells that were drilled by EOG on the Norris well pad in West Township in December, records show. The Norris CL Wes 10H was the highest producing oil well in the county for the quarter, with 69,651 barrels over a 90-day period, the 28th largest in the state.
Together, the five wells at the Norris pad yielded 338,739 barrels during the first quarter, records show.
Wells in Columbiana County’s Utica also produced a sizable amount of natural gas during the period, ODNR records show. Collectively, these wells yielded 26.4 billion cubic feet of dry and wet gas, compared with 18.9 billion during the fourth quarter of 2025. The largest gas producing well in the county was the Elkrun Johnston 6H, drilled by Hilcorp Energy Co. in Elk Run Township. That well yielded 1.34 billion cubic feet of gas over 90 days, according to ODNR.
Wells in Mahoning County produced a total of 16,979 barrels, all of which came from a single well at EOG’s Wehr Spring Valley Farm in Ellsworth Township. Horizontal wells in Mahoning County produced a total of 280.8 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Trumbull County wells reported zero oil production for the quarter, according to ODNR, while natural gas production stood at 50.6 million cubic feet.
Wells across the state yielded 11.4 million barrels of oil during the first quarter, slightly lower than the 11.9 million barrels produced in the fourth quarter of 2025, records show. Natural gas production was also down compared with the previous quarter.
For the first three months of 2026, Ohio produced 511.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas, compared with 551.1 billion cubic feet during the fourth quarter of 2025, records show.
Editor’s note: This story is part of a larger report examining how rising oil prices, record production and international events are affecting eastern Ohio’s oil and gas industry. Read the full story HERE.
Pictured at top: The Huffman Trust well, drilled more than 11 years ago, is yielding higher royalty payments to landowners because of climbing oil prices.