As of the August 16, 2014 Ohio DNR Utica Shale activity report, Antero Resources currently leads all operators in wells listed as "drilling" with 38. According to the Antero Resources August 2014 company presentation Antero anticipates "835 future gross drilling locations" in the Utica Shale in Ohio. This represents a significant capital investment when you consider the 5-7 million estimated cost to bring one of the wells into production.
Chesapeake leads historical numbers
And while Antero is currently the most active driller, they by no means hold the most active drilled locations, that distinction goes to Chesapeake with 494 locations reported as "drilled" or "producing". Gulfport reports 73 wells as drilled or producing. While the August 16, 2014 Ohio DNR report shows Antero Resources with 44 wells as drilled or producing.
Antero in the Utica "sweet, sweet spot"
As I've noted in a previous post, according to reported production numbers, Antero seems fortunate to have obtained some of the best of the best acreage when looking at BOEPD in the initial months of production of some of their recent wells. And it looks like capital spending is chasing these more prolific wells given Antero's aggressive drilling program, a program that currently exceeds all operators in the Utica in Ohio.
Monroe and Noble counties prominent
Reported Q1 2013 through Q 1 2014 production for Antero Resources is confined to Noble (18 wells, more liquids rich) and Monroe (6 wells, more gas rich) counties.
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| Antero Utica Shale Ohio Production through Q1 2014. Source Ohio DNR data. |
August 16 report shows increase since end Q1 2014
The August 16 Ohio DNR report shows an additional 6 Antero wells classified as "producing" in Noble county when compared to the Q1 production report. The report shows 14 wells "drilled", 38 "drilling", and 12 "permitted". A map of all Producing, Drilled, and Drilling Antero wells here is below.
(Surface locations in blue, bottom hole locations in red.)
Click for large map view
(Surface locations in blue, bottom hole locations in red.)
Click for large map view
