Rig Count Stands at 19 in Ohio Utica

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Permitting activity was light last week, but the rig count is showing signs of strength across the Utica shale in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The rig count stood at 19 for the week ended Nov. 26, ODNR said. The previous week, the number stood at 21 and just 16 rigs were in operation the week before.

ODNR issued two permits for horizontal wells in the Utica last week: one to Ascent Resources Utica LLC for a well in Belmont County, the other to CSX Gas Corp., a subsidiary of Consol Energy Inc., for a well in Monroe County.

Both counties are in the southern tier of Ohio’s Utica, an area that has attracted the most attention because of the strong production output of wells in that region.

There were no permits in the Utica’s northern tier for the week, which includes Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, according to ODNR. Nor were there new permits in the neighboring counties of Lawrence and Mercer counties in western Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

To date, there have been 2,312 permits issued in Ohio’s Utica shale. Of that number, 1,856 wells are drilled and 1,468 are in production, according to ODNR data.

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