YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – An energy company that holds a sizable leasehold position in Columbiana County has been awarded new permits this year to boost production from the Utica-Point Pleasant shale formation, according to records from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Hilcorp Energy Co., based in Houston, has so far this year secured seven new permits to drill horizontal wells in Elk Run Township and was subsequently awarded permits to deepen these wells, ODNR records show. Hilcorp was awarded the new well permits Jan. 16, and then approved to drill deeper April 10.
All the wells are located at the Elkrun Johnston pad, ODNR data show.
Hilcorp’s wells in Columbiana County have emerged as strong producers of natural gas, according to ODNR data. During the fourth quarter of 2024, for example, Hilcorp’s Columbiana County wells produced 16.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas, ODNR data show. The county’s top producing gas well for the period was Hilcorp’s Unkefer 8H well, which yielded 797.496 million cubic feet of gas.
Columbiana County’s wells, including those owned by Hilcorp, Encino Energy subsidiary EAP Ohio – which yielded 8.5 billion cubic feet – Pin Oak Energy and Geopetro LLC together produced 25.1 billion cubic feet of gas during the quarter, an increase of nearly 20% compared with the previous quarter.
The county’s horizontal wells last year also produced a total of nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil, a record for this section of the Utica-Point Pleasant. The oil wells are part of EAP Ohio’s Utica portfolio.
As of Dec. 31, 2024, Hilcorp has registered 82 horizontal wells in Columbiana County, all of which produced natural gas. The wells didn’t report any oil production for all of 2024, records show.