WARREN, Ohio – Oil production from horizontal wells operating in Columbiana County soared to record highs during the first three months of 2026, according to the latest production results from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Oil and Gas Division.
Wells in the county’s Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation pumped out 543,905 barrels of oil during the first quarter, the largest output for a single quarter in Columbiana County. The production numbers surpass the previous record, which was 478,811 barrels during the second quarter of 2025, according to ODNR.
Records show that oil output for all of Columbiana County’s 95 wells during the previous quarter stood at 307,985 barrels.
Much of the oil production during the first quarter of 2026 came from five wells that were drilled by EOG Resources on the Norris well pad in West Township in December, records show. The Norris CL Wes 10H was the highest producing oil well in the county for the quarter, with 69,651 barrels over a 90-day period, the 28th largest in the state.
Together, the five wells at the Norris pad yielded 338,739 barrels during the first quarter, records show.
Wells in Columbiana County’s Utica also produced a sizable amount of natural gas during the period, ODNR records show. Collectively, these wells yielded 26.4 billion cubic feet of dry and wet gas, compared with 18.9 billion during the fourth quarter of 2025. The largest gas producing well in the county was the Elkrun Johnston 6H, drilled by Hilcorp Energy Co. in Elk Run Township. That well yielded 1.34 billion cubic feet of gas over 90 days, according to ODNR.
Wells in Mahoning County produced a total of 16,979 barrels – all of which came from a single well at EOG’s Wehr Spring Valley Farm in Ellsworth Township. Horizontal wells in Mahoning County produced a total of 280.8 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Trumbull County wells reported zero oil production for the quarter, according to ODNR, while natural gas production stood at 50.6 million cubic feet.
Wells across the state yielded 11.4 million barrels of oil during the first quarter, slightly lower than the 11.9 million barrels produced in the fourth quarter of 2025, records show. Natural gas production was also down compared with the previous quarter.
For the first three months of 2026, Ohio produced 511.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas, compared with 551.1 billion cubic feet during the fourth quarter of 2025, records show.
Coming Off a Strong 2025
Oil produced from wells in Columbiana County stood at 1.43 million barrels in 2025 – or 3% of total state production – a drop of 4.2% compared with results a year earlier. In 2024, the county’s approximately 200 horizontal wells yielded 1.49 million barrels – or 4.3% of the state’s total production – the first time the county surpassed 1 million barrels for a year.
Much of the attention in eastern Ohio’s Utica was initially focused on geology in the southern tier of the play, as exploration companies tapped vast reservoirs of both natural gas and oil in regions such as Carroll, Guernsey and Harrison counties.
EOG’s Folsam CR well in Carroll County, for example, produced 195,194 barrels of oil during the second quarter of 2025, along with 953.5 million cubic feet of natural gas. In all, wells across Carroll County produced 12.34 million barrels of oil in 2025.
Harrison County produced even more. Last year, wells drilled in that county pumped out more than 13 million barrels of oil.
Wells in Belmont County, on the other hand, produced little oil but yielded nearly 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2025, approximately one-quarter of the state’s entire production.