What's with all the wells popping up in northern Stark county ?

I have seen several wells showing up in stark county in the last couple of months near state route 62 , are they looking for oil? , what does this mean for the rest of Stark county?

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Permalink Reply by pg guy on August 27, 2014 at 6:50am

Most all the East Canton Field was oil prone, with some associated gas production.  Toward the NE edge it turned gassier - but it still produced crude.

My guess is that the Clinton is more depleted in the centers of the East Canton field, as most of the biggest, best wells were drilled in the 70s, and in some of the field there were gas wells drilled in the 30s or earlier that reduced the natural drive of the formation.

I believe that the East Canton play as we know it came into being because the evil hydrofracturing process enabled the tight sand, with relatively low formation pressure, to produce crude oil in economic quantities.

 The following is purely speculation:  Maybe horizontal drilling initially in the relatively gassier part of the play is because remaining formation pressure is somewhat higher in those areas, increasing the likelihood of successful production.

Permalink Reply by RICHARD BASILE on August 27, 2014 at 2:08pm

does anyone have an idea of production volume , re oil & ng,--??---estimate costs between $600 to 700 k per well ??--my thoughts, that with mild frac & 500 ft kick/out--land held HBP--believe this could have huge implications for O & G in OH--

Mike MurphyPermalink Reply by Mike Murphy on August 27, 2014 at 7:22am

Ohio Clinton Sandstone

Ohio’s first Clinton sandstone discoveries came in 1887 in Fairfield County. The discovery sparked natural gas and oil plays from high porosity Clinton fields located in the immediate area and later, in the City of Canton field. The Clinton exhibited good economic potential. However the Clinton generally displayed less than adequate permeability and usually required nitro-shot stimulation to produce economic production. By the late 1940’s, dry hole rates approached 50 percent and most oil and gas operators believed that the Clinton was played out.

During 1951, hydraulic fracturing stimulation of sandstone reservoirs met with success in Ohio. During a fracturing process, hydraulic pressure using water is applied to an oil and gas bearing rock to split the rock and create vertical drainage paths within the reservoir. These paths allow natural gas and oil to move more freely from the rock pores where they are trapped to the wellbore, where the product can then be lifted to the surface. As a result of fracturing, from 1951 through 1957 the Clinton success ratio increased to 85% completions and oil and gas producers renewed their interest in Clinton drilling.

Beginning in 1970 rising natural gas and oil prices, high demand for local supplies of natural gas, advances in fracturing technology, and the introduction in 1978 of the NGPA Section 107 “Tight Sands” incentive gas pricing and the Section 29 tax credit combined to create a massive drilling boom in the Clinton sands, as well as the Berea sands and Ohio Shale. Drilling activity within Eastern Ohio rivaled the early Trenton days. During the peak year of 1981, there were 6,085 wells drilled in Ohio, of which 76 percent were completed in the Clinton sandstone.

In 1986, the collapse of oil prices and stagnant natural gas prices challenged the survival of the Ohio industry. Even so, Ohio continued to be one of the more active drilling states. During challenging times, Ohio producers have been drilling deeper and taking on increased risks in a search for rocks that offer potential for higher rates of production. During the 1990′s, new opportunities of prolific oil and gas reserves were found in the deep Ordovician Knox Rose Run sands, the Beekmantown dolomite and the Trenton Black River. Even so, the overall success rate for exploratory deep drilling is less than 50 percent.

Permalink Reply by James Vanderink on August 27, 2014 at 7:26am
Can anyone elaborate on the pad size for these HZ Clinton wells? Uticalike or not?
Mike MurphyPermalink Reply by Mike Murphy on August 27, 2014 at 7:37am

what i have seen the unit is about 60 to 70 acres and the pad is just for that one well not like a utica pad that is built for multiple wells but that could change depending on the area and existing vertical wells in an area ........there are some areas that never got drilled after the bust in 1985 when crude went from 38 dollars a bbl to 13 dollars over night  

Permalink Reply by James Vanderink on August 27, 2014 at 7:40am
Sorry Mike, I meant the size of the drilling pad. If the pad is like a Utica pad in size(2-4acres) that's got to be quite pricey.
Mike MurphyPermalink Reply by Mike Murphy on August 27, 2014 at 7:45am

they are probably about 1 acre in size ......and that is just a small expense in any well drilling process .......companies are probably paying 10,000 an acre at most and some leases have surface rights in them so it doesnt cost the producer anything to use the land 

Permalink Reply by James Vanderink on August 27, 2014 at 7:56am
Ok. Thanks. NGO was ready to drill a HZ Clinton back in 2007 on their own property. 1/2-1 acre pad was roughed in and were ready to drill, but oops they found out they didn't own the mineral rights. Thanks again.
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on August 27, 2014 at 9:02am

Mike M., James V., Dexter G.,

All good to read from my perspective for a refreshing change.

The Clinton level is about 3000' down in my neck of the woods and the Utica about 5500' down.

Ashtabula County from what I gather is looking like a 'Stacked  Play' type of location.

There is a proliferation of Clinton Wells and a number of Trenton Wells and also a number of Rose Run Wells to evidence it.

If fracturing technology is so much improved and is potentially the key to recovering 4 times as much oil then has been ever recovered from only the Clinton I'd like to know what the hell the industry is waiting for to begin it's recovery ? A few more wars so they can burn it all up with military vehicles perhaps ?

Also Dexter it appears that you've revised your Clinton Pool analogy and now seem to not be taking exception to Mike M's. explanation of the resource being spread out through the entire Clinton strata (analogous to the saturated sponge theory I wrote of). Which BTW to me is all good.

What do you all say ?

I say spread the word !

Permalink Reply by pg guy on August 28, 2014 at 1:48am

State regulations require a 40 acre drilling unit for the Clinton at the depths it occurs at in most of NE Ohio.  While the Clinton underlies virtually every acre of NE Ohio, the quality of the formation varies from area to area, so some areas are barely (or not at all) economic, other areas are very productive.  Some areas are also oilier than other areas.  There will even be the occasional surprise well that is significantly more productive than the off-set wells.

In the best areas virtually every 40 acre parcel has been drilled, so there are not a lot of vertical locations left to develop.  There has been mixed results with down-spacing (requiring special permitting from the ODNR) vertical wells to 20 acres.

The idea with the horizontal well is to expose several hundred feet of the formation to the well bore, rather than just the relatively few feet (depending on thickness) that a vertical well interfaces.

I stand to be corrected, but I don't think that the fracturing technology for a vertical Clinton has changed much over the last 20-25 years, so I don't believe that there is much to gain there.  However, horizontal drilling has become much more affordable and available (due to its widespread use in shale plays), so that is the best hope at this time to recover more Clinton barrels.  

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on August 28, 2014 at 2:08am

Sounds like time to develop / horizontal bore the Clinton to me.

New larger acreage leases for new Clinton Strata Specific long horizontal bore wells seem to be in order to me.

Perhaps the existing vertical bores need to be plugged as I've read the new fracturing techniques for the horizontals could damage the existing well casings passing through (like in the case of existing Rose Run wells) or into the Clinton strata.

I say Giddyup.

Permalink Reply by Dexter Green on August 28, 2014 at 2:46am

The Clinton is not homogenous.  You're drilling traps, which are not always going to line up nicely with a horizontal well bore.  I'm highly skeptical.  But I'll also wait and see.  I gain nothing in my personal life buy believing it or disbelieving it. 

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