Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by OUBobcat on October 27, 2012 at 9:27am

You should be able to pull the well up on ODNR's website and find the drilling unit map associated with it.  On the map it shows the boundaries of the drilling unit with the property owners names.

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on October 29, 2012 at 6:07pm

No, it does not necessarily mean you will be included in the unit. If you are inside of 500 ft (on the surface) from the well entry or lateral, you may well be included. You should look on the ODNR website for the permit information which will likely include a proposed unit map. If you know where the entry hole for the well is located and can follow a line on the surface that follows the horizontal leg, you can go 500ft each side of the horizontal leg and a 500 ft radius around the starting point and ending point and get a very close approximation of who will be in the unit. It is possible in Ohio to have the surface location of the well outside of the unit, depending where the first stage of fracked horizontal is located in relation to the entry location. If you post details on which well you are talking about, I can see if there is a unit map on the DNR website and post it here if there is one.

Permalink Reply by deutchen on October 30, 2012 at 3:40am

I looked on the ODNR website & couldn't see where such maps were. The well name should Shugert then a number. I'm not sure which. I know it's not Shugert 1. That's the one just drilled that's the highest producing well in the state now. It's in Union township. It might be Shugert 2.

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on October 30, 2012 at 5:06am

ODNR shows two permits for Shugert in Belmont County.

Shugert 1-1, 1-1H (permit 20657) originates in Kirkwood twp section 1 and extends N-NW into Kirkwood section 2.  The lateral goes away from the Kirkwood/Union border. No unit map on file.

Shugert 1-12, 1-12H (permit 20658) originates in Warren twp section 12 and also extends N-NW through Kirkwood section 7, ending in Kirkwood section 8.  Unit map attached.

Also attached is a general map showing basic location of both wells.

Attachments:

• GEOSURVEY_EMERGENCY_OILGAS_nrims71521728780.pdf, 342 KB
• 224941.pdf, 1.6 MB

Permalink Reply by deutchen on October 30, 2012 at 3:02pm

Thanks for the maps. I can tell where the location of the well is you sent. It's not the location I'm thinking of though. If those red dots with a slash through them are proposed well sites though, I think I see it. Is that what the red dots are, proposed well sites?

   The green lines on the map are permitted sites perhaps? They seem to all run to the northwest. Is that the way they all go?

   Could you tell me how you navigate to the location on the ODNR where you find these maps? I couldn't locate it? Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on October 31, 2012 at 3:06am

The red dots with a slash are the locations of plugged wells that were no longer producing and have been taken out of service by plugging them.

The green lines show the location and direction of the lateral on a horizontally drilled well. The surface entry location of the well is at the green dot. The arrow & white dot w/black outline is the end location of the horizontal leg of the well. The 5 digit number found at each end is the county well#/permit #. This number is also incorporated into the longer API well number which specifies the state and county where the well is located. The single green dots on the map are vertical producing wells. The purple dots are injection/disposal wells. The white dots w/black outline (by them selves, no dashed green line or arrow) are permitted locations where a new well is intended to be drilled. Each of these also has a 5 digit number which is the county well#/permit#. The 5 digit number, along with the county it is located in are very important if you wish to find more information on the well.

The starting point for all this information is the ODNR Oil & Gas page.

The map I used comes from the Emergency Oil and Gas Well Locator from the Ohio Geological Survey. On the map page, zoom to the county of choice and then use the controls on the left side of the page to find what you are looking for.

The well permit information comes from the Oil and Gas Well Search page. There, you click on the OIL AND GAS WELL DATABASE link. Before doing that, you should look at the instructions for use further down the page and familiarize yourself with how the search works.

Permalink Reply by deutchen on October 31, 2012 at 8:13am

Someone told me that most wells in our area run northwest or southeast. I notice this was the case on the map you sent. Would you say this was too much of a generalization? I haven't heard of multiple lateral wells being drilled in our area yet. Have you?

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on October 31, 2012 at 12:21pm

Most Utica well laterals run these directions because of the grain structure of the shale. A NW / SE orientation of the well bore is more conducive to allowing the hydrocarbons to release from the shale and into the well bore. It is simply more profitable to orient the horizontal portion of the wells in these directions.

Permalink Reply by deutchen on November 1, 2012 at 2:53am

Does that mean that multiple laterals from the same location are unlikely in this area do you think? Have there been any yet to your knowledge?

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on November 1, 2012 at 4:25am

Multiple laterals from the same pad are very likely later on in the play. Right now, most of the larger producers (Gulfport, XTO, Chesapeake, etc) have more acreage under lease than they can possibly drill in the 5 year initial term of those leases. Look for them to drill a single lateral now on as many well pad sites as they can for 5 years, enabling them to HBP (hold by production) 640 acres (and sometimes more) with each single well. Once they hold enough acreage with those single lateral well pads to protect their lease investment, look for them to come back and fully develop the existing pads that were proven profitable by the first lateral. Some smaller producers who don't have huge numbers of acres under lease have already drilled/permitted multiple laterals from the same pad in Ohio.