Utica Permit Activity Picks Up in Ohio and Pa.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Rex Energy, an oil and gas company that’s been relatively quiet in the northern tier of the Utica, has obtained three new permits to drill horizontal wells in Lawrence County, Pa., according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

R.E. Gas Development LLC, a subsidiary of Rex Energy, received permits to drill three new wells in Perry Township, all of them at the Wolf property.

No new permits were issued in nearby Mercer County, Pa., the DEP reported.

Meanwhile, permit activity in the southern tier of eastern Ohio’s Utica shale increased substantially over the previous week, according to the latest update from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Thirty-three new horizontal drilling permits were issued in the Utica for the week ended Oct. 10, ODNR said. A week earlier, ODNR had issued 18 new permits in the Utica.

Ascent Resources, formerly American Energy–Appalachia LLC, received 16 new drilling permits – five in Belmont County, three in Guernsey County, five in Harrison County, and three in Jefferson County.

Gulfport Energy Corp. and Eclipse Resources secured the second-highest number of permits for the week with six each in Belmont County. Triad Hunter LLC received three permits for wells in Monroe County, while XTO Energy secured two permits for wells in Belmont County.

No new permits were issued for wells in Mahoning, Trumbull or Columbiana counties in Ohio.

Since oil and gas exploration began in Ohio’s Utica shale play, 1,608 horizontal wells have been drilled and 1,018 are in production across the state.

The rig count, or the number of rigs that operated in the Utica last week, stood at 24, up three from the previous week.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.