Ohio Utica Shale Drilling Activity YOY Review

Similar to the most recent post where we evaluated permitting activity in Ohio's Utica Shale (April 25, 2015)  YTD vs. last year, lets have look at Ohio's Utica Shale drilling activity YOY, more of a snapshot but a similar comparison.

April 25th, 2015, 219 wells classified as "Drilling"
April 19th, 2014, 143 wells classified as "Drilling"

As we can see, activity is still up significantly compared to about this same time last year.

By counties with wells classified as drilling.
As the data below shows, Carroll County saw a significant drop in drilling activity (8 wells drilling April 25th 2015 vs. 30 on April 19th 2014, on higher drilling in general so that is noteworthy. While Monroe drilling activity is up more than 100% from last year (53 in April 2015 vs. 23 in April 2014). Harrison remains about the same, while Guernsey is also up significantly, 31 in April 2015 vs. 11 in April 2014. Belmont is also up, more than 3 fold, 46 in April 2015 vs. 13 in April 2014.

April 25, 2015

• Monroe (53)
• Belmont (46)
• Harrison (42)
• Guernsey (31)
• Noble (23)
• Carroll (8)

Round out the top six


April 19th, 2014

• Harrison (36)
• Carroll (30)
• Monroe (23)
• Noble (21)
• Belmont (13)
• Guernsey (11)

Round out the top six

Utica Shale Ohio - YTD and YOY Permitting Activity Reviewed

Now that we are nearly four full months into 2015, Year To Date (April 25, 2015) let's have a look at how things are going compared to the same period last year in the Utica Shale, Ohio specifically.

As the permit data below illustrates (sourced from the Ohio DNR weekly updates), total permits issued YOY in the same period is up slightly 186 to 191. The data also shows a definite increase in activity in the Southeast favoring Monroe county and a decrease in the Western edge demonstrated by reduced permitting activity in Guernsey County from last year. Harrison County is also down from last year, though still relatively high. Activity in Noble County, also on Southern edge, is up substantially from last year.


Jan 1, 2015 through April 25, 2015
Permits issued: 191

By County

• Monroe (41)
• Belmont (27)
• Noble (26)
• Carroll (24)
• Harrison (23)
• Jefferson (18)
• Columbiana (15)
• Guernsey (13)
• Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Washington, Wayne (1)

Jan 1, 2014 through April 25, 2014

Permits issued: 186

By County

• Harrison (58)
• Carroll (39)
• Guernsey (32)
• Belmont (29)
• Monroe (13)
• Noble (10)
• Columbiana (4)
• Washington (1)

Permitting activity by operator

Chesapeake remains the leading pursuer of permits. Antero is noticeably more active permitting in 2015, as is American Energy. Hess permit activity is down compared to last year, as is Eclipse and Gulfport.

Jan 1, 2015 through April 25, 2015

By permits issued

• Chesapeake (49)
• Antero (34)
• American Energy (31)
• Eclipse (18)
• CNX Gas (16)
• Hilcorp (13)
• Gulfport (10)
• XTO (7)
• Hess (5)
• Devon (4)
• Carrizo (3)
• Protege Energy (1)

Jan 1, 2014 through April 25, 2014

By permits issued

• Chesapeake (71)
• Eclipse (28)
• Gulfport (22)
• Hess (16)
• Antero (13)
• American Energy (9)
• XTO (8)
• Rex Energy (5)
• Triad Hunter (5)
• PDC Energy (4)
• Statoil (3)
• CNX Gas (2)

Utica Shale Wells Drilling in OH, Maps and Data (Updated Apr 11, 2015)

The April 11, 2015 Utica Shale activity report from the Ohio DNR shows 253 wells are classified as currently "Drilling" in Ohio's Utica Shale. Data by County and Operator, and a map of all wells drilling, below.

By County (wells drilling)
Monroe (58), Noble (45), Harrison (44),  Belmont (42), Guernsey (36)
Carroll (12), Jefferson (7), Columbiana (5), Tuscarawas (2)
Portage (1), Trumbull (1)

By Operator (wells drilling)
Antero (69), American (60), Chesapeake (25), Gulfport (21), Rice (19), Eclipse (13)
Hess (10), Carrizo (8), PDC (8), Triad Hunter (7), Atlas Noble (2), Rex Energy (2)
XTO (2), Chevron (1),  CNX (1), Enervest (1), EQT (1)
Halcon (1), Hilcorp (1), Mountaineer (1)

Zoom in, pan, and click on any symbol (surface location, bottom hole location, wellpath) to see data. Click within county to see county.