Ohio Shale Exploration Still Drawing Investment
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Despite the pullback from new drilling in the Utica shale within eastern Ohio, oil and gas exploration continues to have positive ramifications across the region.
Permits for new wells have all but ground to a halt in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Still, ODNR issued four new permits the week ended April 11. American Energy Utica LLC secured all four for wells in Harrison County. A week earlier, no new permits were issued.
However, observers still expect billions of dollars in new investment through 2016.
According to Energy In Depth, a trade organization that supports the oil and gas industry, investment in Ohio’s shale industry has reached $23.3 billion, while another $8.1 billion is expected in 2016 with the construction or extension of additional pipeline infrastructure, power plants and processing plants.
Among these new infrastructure investments:
- Columbia Pipeline Group’s Leach Xpress pipeline; investment $1.4 billion.
- Spectra Energy’s Open project at $468 million.
- Spectra Energy’s Nexus project, $1.5 billion.
- Energy Transfer’s Rover pipeline project, $4.3 billion.
- Kinder Morgan’s Utopia pipeline, $500 million.
As of the second quarter of 2014, more than 190,153 were employed in the oil and gas industry in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
MORE from Energy In Depth:
Ohio Shale Industry Continues to Fuel Jobs and Economic Growth
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
