Gas Production Robust for Columbiana County Wells
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Central and southwestern Columbiana County is emerging as the hot spot for natural gas production in the northern tier of Ohio’s Utica shale, with most of that production in Franklin, Hanover and Center townships, according to the latest numbers released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Two wells in operation at the Summitcrest well pad in Franklin Township yielded a combined production of more than 1.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas during the quarter ended June 30, ODNR said.
Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Summitcrest 8H well is the most productive in the northern section of the Utica with 739.5 million cubic feet of gas over 91 days. A sister well on the same pad — the Summitcrest 3H — produced 674.5 million cubic feet of natural gas during the same period.
The Summitcrest 8H ranks as the 48th most productive gas well of the 978 wells reporting production numbers in the Utica play.
Another well in Franklin Township, Chesapeake’s Leona 8H, produced a little more than 713 million cubic feet of gas during the second quarter, ODNR reported.
Other wells in the township turned in strong production results for the quarter. Two wells drilled at the Briceland Trust farm – the 5H and the 8H – yielded 403.1 million cubic feet and 327 million cubic feet of gas respectively. And, three wells in production at the Pitts well pad — the 10H, 1H and the 8H – yielded 404.2 million, 309.7 million and 271.1 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Wells in Center Township also turned in strong numbers, the ODNR report shows. The Tritten 3H well, the subject of Gloria Tritten’s “Field of View” column in The Business Journal, produced 249.1 million cubic feet of gas while the Andrulis 8H well yielded 217.7 million cubic feet of gas during the quarter.
The Crosser 5H well, which The Business Journal profiled in its September print edition, pumped out 148 million cubic feet of gas over the quarter.
In Hanover Township, the D&B Kibler 1H well produced 449.3 million cubic feet of gas, and the Judy Brown 6H well produced 304 million cubic feet of gas during the 91-day period.
There was little or no oil produced from wells across the northern tier, according to the ODNR report.
In Mahoning County, Hilcorp Energy Co.’s wells in Poland Township continue to produce steady results after one full year of production.
Normally, natural gas wells show a steep decline in output after several months of production. However, three Hilcorp wells at its second Carbon Limestone Landfill pad have remained on an even keel since they first started production in August 2014. The Poland CLL2 6H well produced 267.2 million cubic feet of gas during the quarter, the CLL2 5H yielded 238.9 cubic feet of gas, and the CLL2 3H 220.2 million cubic feet over 91 days.
Four other wells in production at Hilcorp’s Poland Township site produced less than 200 million cubic feet over the quarter, according to ODNR.
Other areas of the northern Utica are far less productive. Halcon Resources Corp. reported that the eight wells it operates in Mahoning and Trumbull counties yielded combined production of just 202.2 million cubic feet of gas over the period. Halcon announced last year it would suspend its drilling operations in the northern section of the Utica.
Instead, most energy companies have targeted the southern section of the Utica where natural gas and oil production easily surpasses wells in the north.
This is especially evident in Belmont County where Rice Drilling LLC has struck gold with natural gas wells in this section of southeastern Ohio.
Rice’s Gold Digger 3H well proved the most productive natural gas well in the entire Utica for the second quarter. That well produced an impressive 1.547 billion cubic feet of gas while seven other wells the company has drilled in the county have produced no less than 1.264 billion cubic feet of gas each.
Rice operates eight of the top-10 producing natural gas wells in the state, according to ODNR, all in Belmont County. Two of Gulfport Energy Corp.’s wells in Belmont round out the 10 most productive gas wells, each of which produced more than one billion cubic feet of natural gas over the period.
The most productive oil well in the Utica was American Energy Utica LLC’s Caston 4H in Guernsey County. That well produced 56,150 barrels of oil over the 91-day period.
Average natural gas production per well stood at 226.9 million cubic feet while oil production averaged 5,574 barrels per well for the first half of the year, ODNR reported.
The state’s 978 horizontal wells produced 5.5 million barrels of oil and 221 billion cubic feet of natural gas during the quarter, according to ODNR. Oil volume grew by 20% while natural gas production rose 21% compared to the first quarter, breaking all previous production records statewide.
SOURCE: Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
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