Rig Count Stays Steady at 19 in the Utica

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources reported Monday that the rig count in eastern Ohio’s Utica shale remained unchanged at 19 during the week ended Dec. 3 versus the previous week, while permit activity increased.

ODNR data show that four energy companies drilling in the Utica were awarded 13 new permits for horizontal wells, compared to just two permits issued the week ended Nov. 26.

Antero Resources, based in Denver, secured nine new permits for wells in Monroe and Noble counties. Statoil USA received two permits to drill in Monroe County, while EM Energy Ohio LLC was awarded one permit to drill a new well in Monroe.

XTO Energy, a division of Exxon Mobil, secured a permit to drill in Belmont County.

All of the new permits are to drill in the southern tier of the Utica.

No new permits were awarded in the northeastern Ohio Utica counties, ODNR says, nor were two neighboring counties in western Pennsylvania, Mercer and Lawrence, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection reports.

As of Dec. 3, there were 2,319 permits issued for Ohio’s Utica, according to ODNR. Of that number, 1,860 wells have been drilled and 1,470 are in production.

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