Oil Output Down but Strong for Columbiana County Wells

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Oil production in Columbiana County cooled during the second quarter compared with the previous period’s record numbers, but output remains steady, data show.

Horizontal wells across the county yielded a combined 142,669 barrels of oil over a 90-day period during the three months ended June 30 – a nearly 39% drop from the previous quarter – according to the latest production data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

All of the oil-producing wells are owned by EAP Ohio, a subsidiary of Houston-based Encino Energy Partners.

Still, the latest numbers reflect consistent output from four EAP oil-producing wells in Hanover Township. Together, these wells, located at the Mountz well pad, produced 138,164 barrels.

The most productive of these wells was the Mountz 1H, which yielded 40,670 barrels of oil over 90 days. 

Last quarter, the four EAP wells shattered previous oil production figures for this neck of the Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation, indicating the potential of an emerging oil window in Columbiana County. During the first quarter, just those wells collectively produced 228,058 out of a total 233,390 barrels from all of the wells in the county. 

“Encino’s second pad is online, and we are currently working on a third pad in Columbiana County,” spokeswoman Jackie Stewart said in a statement. “We continue to be cautiously optimistic about the northern Utica play and look forward to seeing ongoing growth and investment in the region.”

In all, EAP wells throughout Ohio produced more than 3.5 million barrels of oil during the second quarter, or 51% of the state’s total output. Much of this oil is found south of Columbiana County in Carroll, Harrison and Guernsey counties, data show.

Overall oil production throughout Ohio increased 5.5% during the quarter to more than 6.9 million barrels compared with the previous quarter.

Traditionally, the northern portion of the play is associated with natural gas, not oil. During the fourth quarter of 2022, for example, the county’s wells produced just 5,084 barrels of oil.

However, the most recent data show that wells in the county are still pumping relatively strong amounts of natural gas too, although production was down from the first quarter.

Horizontal wells in Columbiana County owned by EAP, Hilcorp Energy Co., Geopetro LLC and Pin Oak Energy Partners produced a total of 20.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas, down from 27.5 billion cubic feet – a 24% drop from the first quarter, data show.

The highest volume gas well in the county during the period was EAP’s Maskaluk 1H well in Washington Township, which produced 1.05 billion cubic feet of gas during the period, according to ODNR.

EAP reported its wells yielded 10.1 billion cubic feet of gas, while Hilcorp reported its wells produced 10.5 billion cubic feet during the quarter. Geopetro said its wells produced 236.2 million cubic feet of gas, and Pin Oak reported zero production.

In all, natural gas production across Ohio fell 2.8% from 551.8 billion cubic feet during the first quarter to 536.3 billion cubic feet in the second quarter.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.