Drilling Prospects Dim for Mahoning County and Trumbull County, Ohio

Oil and gas drilling prospects dim here, expert says

Published: Fri, April 29, 2016 @ 12:08 a.m.

By Peter H. Milliken

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

If oil and natural-gas prices increase substantially, new well drilling likely will get a boost in Columbiana County, but the prospects aren’t good in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, an industry expert said.

“Right now, you’re really just looking at Belmont, Harrison, Monroe, and maybe a little bit of Noble County” as the focus of drilling activity, said Mike Chadsey, public-relations director for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, a 3,000-member industry group.

“As the price shrunk, the geographic play shrunk; and, as price expands, the play will expand,” Chadsey said.

Chadsey was among about 65 people who attended a luncheon last week sponsored by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber at Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellows Riverside Gardens, which featured Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials as speakers.

If oil and gas prices rise, “There’ll probably be a little activity in Columbiana County, but everything that we have seen in Trumbull and Mahoning [counties] doesn’t look like the rock is there,” Chadsey said.

“This is all about what the rock will do – the Utica and maybe the Marcellus [shale]. It just doesn’t seem workable up here,” he said, citing BP’s decision to withdraw from Trumbull County production activities in 2014.

The production numbers reported by ODNR for 2014 and 2015 support Chadsey’s assertion.

In Columbiana County, natural-gas production soared from 21.3 billion cubic feet in 2014 to 37 billion cubic feet in 2015.

That county’s oil production rose from 172,388 barrels in 2014 to 214,412 barrels last year.

In Mahoning County, natural-gas production was a mere 4 billion cubic feet each year, and oil production slumped from 26,929 barrels in 2014 to 22,378 barrels last year.

Trumbull County’s natural-gas production fell from 1 billion cubic feet in 2014 to 628 million cubic feet in 2015, and oil production there plummeted from 40,668 barrels in 2014 to 10,871 barrels last year.

No new oil and gas wells were drilled last year in Mahoning or Trumbull counties, the trade association reported.

The industry needs an oil price between $75 and $80 per barrel to make expansion of drilling activity attractive, Chadsey said.

“Three dollars or $4 an mcf [1,000 cubic feet of natural gas] would make the Utica just very exciting again,” he added.

Drilling is expensive, with each horizontal well now costing about $2 million to drill, he noted.

Oil now ranges from $40 to $43 a barrel, and Chadsey said natural gas is now as low as $1 or less per mcf due to Ohio’s gas surplus and lack of large users.

The new $890 million Lordstown Energy Center, which will be a natural-gas-fueled power plant in the Lordstown Industrial Park, for which site preparation is now underway, will be a large natural-gas user, Chadsey said.

Chadsey said he expects Ohio’s oil and gas production will continue to increase “marginally” this year “as old wells become hooked up to the pipeline network.”

Ohio’s oil and gas production this year will depend on the markets for those commodities, said Rick Simmers, ODNR’s oil and gas division chief, who was a luncheon speaker here.

“I think we’re going to still see an increase, at least for the first two quarters, but it’ll be at a lower rate than it has been,” Simmers predicted.

“If the commodity prices remain low, then into the third and fourth quarters, I would guess that the production’s going to begin to decline, compared to wherever it peaks, but not dramatically,” he predicted.

Ohio’s oil production doubled from 10.9 million barrels in 2014 to 21.9 million barrels last year.

Its natural-gas production rose 110.6 percent from 452 billion cubic feet in 2014 to 953 billion cubic feet last year.

- See more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2016/apr/29/expert-well-drilling-prospect...

Views: 3274

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by G.H. on May 5, 2016 at 5:41pm

LOL, come on Joe, I don't post on here to insult people.  If you'd look at my past posts, I think that is clear...  I think I'm pretty civil, especially compared to some other people.  I've probably made a couple posts in the past in response to people saying absolutely ridiculous stuff that may have been rude, but that's it.  

If you take that much offense to me using the term blind optimism, and then later saying I didn't mean for it to be insulting, maybe you are too sensitive.  I don't know, either way, you seem nice enough regardless of whether we agree or disagree... didn't mean to insult you, and I guess you can believe that or not.  Just because Mike and I agree on this doesn't mean we have anything else in common, he seems much more hostile towards you haha.

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on May 6, 2016 at 1:08am

G.H.,

Yeah, sure, I'm too sensitive.

Don't you think I've also been pretty 'civil' about posting on these pages as well ?

I think so.

Yeah -  just a too sensitive and civil kind of guy - I guess that's me.

Now maybe folks will start calling me 'too sensitive but civil' instead.

Kindly refrain from calling me 'blindly optimistic' however, as also thinking of myself as being a practical fellow, I guess that kind of 'flips my switch' so to speak.

Haha - lol - roflmao - etc. - and so forth.

Now, don't take any offense please as none is intended.

J-O

Permalink Reply by Tusc-county-man on May 5, 2016 at 4:23am

Joe Joe Joe.......stick a fork in it....the Northern Utica is done...at least for the next 20 years.

Mike MurphyPermalink Reply by Mike Murphy on May 5, 2016 at 4:43am

Joe with a hope a prayer and a dream.........the experts have spoken .........BP Shell Halcon and who knows who else have thrown in the tile.......if it was worth developing those companies would not have walked away ......trumball.mahoning, and Ashtabula are toast be sure and let us know when they drill the first Utica in Ashtabula county

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on May 5, 2016 at 5:50am

Tusc-county-man,

If you think it's done then you stick a fork in it.

You may strike oil or natural gas !

lol

J-O

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on May 5, 2016 at 5:54am

Mike,

Did you find Lake Erie yet ?

Permalink Reply by David Mohn on May 2, 2016 at 6:31am

Has anyone heard of anything going on in Stark County.  Things have been quite around here for the last several years.  I know Enervest has been trying to drill the Clinton Sandstone and the East Canton oil field but haven't heard how successful they have been?  

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on May 2, 2016 at 6:41am

Looking for info. on all that stuff too.

Must be a big secret.

If you learn something and your able kindly post !

Luck.

Mike MurphyPermalink Reply by Mike Murphy on May 2, 2016 at 12:13pm

Most acreage in western carroll stark and tusc counties are HBP from Clinton leases so producers are in no hurry to drill that area  I have read that enervest is very pleased with the results from there Clinton horizontal wells they have drilled 7

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on May 2, 2016 at 2:40pm

Thanks for that heads up Mike.

RSS

© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service