Drilling Permits in Columbiana County Jump in November

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Permits for new horizontal wells in Columbiana County’s section of the Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation have jumped this month, according to Ohio Department of Natural Resources records.

Houston-based Hilcorp Energy Co. was awarded permits last week to drill 12 new horizontal wells in Elkrun Township, according to ODNR records. The new wells would make up the Johnston well pad.

Thus far in 2023, Hilcorp has secured a total of 21 permits for new horizontal wells across Columbiana County. Eleven additional permits were issued to the energy exploration company to deepen existing wells, while two other permits were secured to revise the location of current wells.

A second major driller in Columbiana County, EAP Ohio, a subsidiary of Houston-based Encino Energy Partners, has so far this year received eight permits to drill new wells, ODNR data show.

Oil and gas production across the Appalachia shale region – which encompasses the Utica/Point Pleasant in Ohio and the Marcellus in Pennsylvania and West Virginia – is expected to decline in December compared with this month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

EIA reports that oil production in Appalachia is projected to drop by 2,000 barrels per day in December to 133,000 barrels per day, while natural gas production is expected to decline 189 million cubic feet per day next month to 35 billion cubic feet per day.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.