YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The number of oil and gas leases signed between landowners and energy companies in Mahoning County has exploded over the past several months – an indication that the center of gravity in Ohio’s Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation is shifting, drawing in massive new investment to the Mahoning Valley.

Oil and gas producers, developers and land agents have swarmed the region over the past year, as recent horizontal well production in the southern portion of the county and northern Columbiana County show promising returns. 

Landowners, meanwhile, have jumped at an opportunity that hasn’t availed itself in nearly 15 years, when the initial dash into the Utica led to lucrative up-front signing bonuses – some amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars – for those entering lease agreements with then-major producers such as Chesapeake Energy Corp. Many of those leases in Mahoning County have since expired, and the county was never fully developed or drilled. Moreover, the wells that were placed into production proved underwhelming at best, leading many energy companies to abandon this section of the Utica and instead concentrate investment in hydrocarbon-rich regions in southeastern Ohio.

Oil, Oil, Oil

This sentiment has changed since wells in northern Columbiana County drilled by Encino Acquisition Partners in 2024 yielded eye-popping oil production that has redefined the promise of the northern Utica. More recently, a well drilled by Encino last year in Ellsworth Township in southern Mahoning County also demonstrated strong potential, unleashing a second wave of leasing activity not seen since the early days of the play.

“The level of leasing activity, capital investment, and drilling over the past year suggests the industry sees meaningful long-term potential in the northern tier of the Utica,” says John Catsonis, managing partner at OGM Partners, Steubenville, a company formed in 2022 to acquire leaseholds and develop acreage for oil and gas production. “I believe the northern tier has emerged as one of the most compelling areas within the Utica because of its oil potential and the level of investment we’ve seen over the past year.”

OGM is a nonoperator, meaning that the company’s business strategy focuses on deploying capital to acquire leases and then partner with larger production companies to develop oil and gas resources, Catsonis says. “Our business model is centered on identifying attractive development opportunities, acquiring and assembling high-quality acreage positions, and advancing those projects toward development,” he says. 

Thus far, OGM has assembled approximately 7,500 acres in Mahoning and Columbiana counties, Catsonis says, a position the company plans to grow. “We intend to continue expanding that acreage position and, at the appropriate time, partner with an experienced operator to develop the acreage we have assembled,” he says. 

Still, Catsonis cautions that developing the northern tier of the Utica is in its infancy compared to core areas such as Carroll, Belmont and Jefferson counties to the south. “The northern tier, including parts of Mahoning and Columbiana counties, is still at an earlier stage of development than the established core of the Utica,” he says. “As a result, there is naturally more geological uncertainty. That said, capital is generally deployed where companies believe they can generate attractive long-term returns.”

Leaseholding Booms

OGM is among several lease acquisition and production companies that have canvassed the Mahoning Valley once again in search of securing large blocks of acreage to develop. According to the Mahoning County recorder’s office, for example, 496 new oil and gas leases have been filed this year since April 17, while another 12 leases have been assigned to energy interests. This compares to just 82 signed in 2025, and a single lease filed in all of 2024, records show.

The boom is being fueled by several out-of-town operators, according to documents. Frio Resources, based in Houston, has so far this year secured 264 leases in Mahoning County, while Denver-based Del Rio III SPV LLC – a land acquisition company affiliated with Del Rio Royalty – has assembled 142 leases. Other companies include DPS Land Services, Bright Rock Energy Partners, OGM and Freedom Mineral Partners LP. It is unclear as to how many acres each lease represents. 

“They’re pretty aggressive,” says Alan Wenger, an attorney with Harrington Hoppe & Mitchell who has experience in the oil and gas industry and has advised clients in lease negotiations with large energy companies and mineral acquisition firms. “If you are one that they want, they’ll make pretty reasonable offers that are very competitive and comparable to what we saw in the early phases of the boom in 2010.”

Some of those leases in the initial phases commanded as much as $6,000 per acre in signing bonuses and 20% gross royalties should a new well be developed on the property, Wenger says. Now, clients are signing up with bonus payments of $5,000 per acre and 20% royalties in some of the more in-demand areas, such as Green and Goshen townships. Elsewhere in the county, lease agreements are securing on average between $2,500 and $3,500 per acre and 18% royalties, still a healthy payout for landholders compared to recent years, he says. 

Such deals could be transformative for landowners with significant acreage, Wenger says. “I’ve seen a number of them in the 100-acre range,” he says. “And, I’ve seen them down to an acre or two being leased. If you’re of mind to lease, now would be a good time to do it.”

Moreover, many of these leases contain “no surface” clauses, meaning that the landowner is guaranteed that a production unit or infrastructure would not be located on their property, Wenger says. “They don’t need to worry about pipelines or drilling pads on their farms,” he says. “This is a change from past leases. It used to be that you had to accommodate surface uses if you were going to lease your property.”

Such leases are far more attractive to landowners, Wenger says, since the only impact a well would have on the property is a lateral line tapping into the Utica formation buried hundreds of feet below the surface. In such a case, the landowner could collect a bonus payment and royalties since the producer has accessed its mineral rights, but they would not be encumbered by any crop or land disruption caused by a production unit or pipeline.

“There was initially some skepticism on whether this really was the real thing and these companies would come through with their bonus payments,” Wenger says. “I think now, over the last few months, it’s become apparent that this is the real deal.” 

What is unusual is that there has yet to be any major active drilling across Mahoning County, Wenger says, and even areas that are attracting the best leases are still untested. “The action in Green Township is somewhat speculative because I don’t know that they have a lot of precedent to go on in terms of productive wells,” he says. 

In 2025, Encino drilled the first horizontal well in Mahoning County in more than ten years. That well, the Wehr Valley Spring Farm well at the corner of Leffingwell Road and state Route 45 in Ellsworth, yielded 40,489 barrels of oil over 84 days during the third quarter of 2025, an impressive amount since Mahoning County has historically lacked any oil production from horizontal wells. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists just 13 active production sites in the county. Aside from the Wehr well, the county yielded zero oil production during the first quarter of 2026, according to ODNR records. 

Indeed, wells drilled in Mahoning County during the early phase of Utica exploration proved disappointing, yielding no oil and below-average natural gas production. “Mahoning County has largely been put off to the side because of weak well performances in the past,” Wenger says. “But, people are seeing something here. I don’t pretend to know what has changed, other than oil.”

Landowner Concerns

Landowners in the county nevertheless have concerns over the consequences of this new push into the Mahoning Valley, says Dale Arnold, director of energy, utility and local government policy at the Ohio Farm Bureau. “I recently did a Mahoning County Farm Bureau meeting on oil and gas and there were probably 45 local residents there,” he says. In addition, Arnold has set up several virtual meetings with individual landowners seeking clarity on how to proceed when contacted about leasing their mineral rights. Much of the time, the first introduction is in the form of a letter to the landholder. However, he’s learned that oil and gas reps have also moved door-to-door approaching prospective clients. 

“I’ve been helping people with these questions on an increasing level over the past 12 months or so,” Arnold says. 

Among the questions a landowner needs to ask is whether the leasing representative is speaking for the production company that will perform the drilling and manage output or a company simply looking to acquire leaseholds and tie up acreage. “If they can’t tell you that, then you must ask about the exact relationship the representative has with the developer that’s doing the drilling,” he says. “Are you hired by them? Are you a vested representative? Is the developer easy to contact if there are problems with the property? You need to have them explain this to you.”

It’s also crucial to contact an attorney before signing any lease agreement, Arnold says. 

Another effective way to address leasing issues is to form a large landholding group that can pool negotiating power to ensure their rights are protected, Arnold says.

A similar strategy was used 15 years ago as the first oil and gas companies moved into the region. These included entities such as the Associated Landowners of the Ohio Valley, which represented approximately 2,000 landholders that collectively owned 75,000 acres in Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Tuscarawas, Harrison, Jefferson, Carroll and Columbiana counties.

“There are some benefits with regard to negotiating economies of scale, but remember, these are all individual agreements,” he says. “You need to be able to take a group negotiated or aggregate negotiated contract and add very specific, unique requirements to accommodate your needs on your property,” he says. 

Most of the new lease agreements signed this year are with energy companies new to the area, Arnold says, and the calls for one-on-one or larger meetings are on the increase throughout the area.  Over the past several months, he’s talked with residents with properties as large as 250 acres and as small as 20 acres. 

“I’ve been very busy in your neck of the woods,” he says.

Pictured at top: The Wehr Valley Spring Farm well in Ellsworth Township, now owned by EOG Resources, was drilled in 2025 by Encino Acquisition Partners. It is the sole oil producing well in Mahoning County and has helped kick-start renewed leasing interest here.