Story first appeared in The Columbus Dispatch.
Ohio geologists continue to redraw the maps highlighting where the Utica shale is expected to yield the most oil and gas across the state.
The newest map by the Ohio Geological Survey excludes some areas that had been in “play” and includes others that had been left out of the “fracking” boom. The Ohio counties in question may want to consider getting a Fracking Expert Witness involved.
At stake is the potential for landowners to cash in on oil and gas drilling. Energy companies are offering bonuses that exceed $5,000 an acre in some areas.
There’s Utica shale beneath most of Ohio, but for drilling companies it’s all about the “play,” the core area where the shale is deemed most likely to yield a lot of natural gas, propane, butane, ethane and oil.
The newest map from the Ohio Geological Survey shows a potential oil reservoir in portions of Delaware, Marion and Union counties.
In southeastern Ohio, Athens, Meigs and portions of Morgan and Washington counties are no longer in the play. Most of Cuyahoga, Lake and Lorain counties in northeastern Ohio also now are excluded.
Since 2009, energy companies have drilled 53 Utica shale wells in Ohio.
The director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said last week that he expects at least 2,250 wells will be drilled by the end of 2015.
Shale drilling involves “fracking,” the process in which millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are injected into wells to shatter the shale and free trapped oil and gas. Though industry officials say the process is safe, environmental groups argue that the chemicals are a pollution threat. A Fracking Engineering Expert Witness should be brought in to review the processes and potential environmental threats.
In the past week, at least four drilling company representatives have gone to the Delaware County recorder’s office to review property deeds and old mineral-rights leases.
The play boundaries changed with the help of new tests of state-owned Utica shale cores taken from the drilling of old oil and gas wells. Drilling companies that ran those tests had to share the results with the state.
Most drilling activity has occurred in eastern Ohio. No one knows whether the western portion of the Utica shale play is under enough pressure to send oil up a well shaft.
One company working near central Ohio is Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy, which has four state permits to drill shale wells in Ashland, Knox and Medina counties.
Devon has drilled one well in Ashland County’s Clear Creek Township. A company spokesman said the well will be fracked in coming weeks.
