SALEM, Ohio — Harrison County is leading the way for the number of Utica shale permits issued in the state of Ohio.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued a total of 34 new permits for Utica shale wells in Ohio during the month of February.

Harrison County

In Harrison County, 14 new permits were issued for new well sites. There are now 179 total permits issued for the county. Of those 179 total permits, there are 63 wells drilled currently. According to the ODNR, there are 56 producing wells in Harrison County.

In Stock Township, the ODNR reported there were nine permits issued on three separate properties, six of the permits were issued to Eclipse Resources. The remaining three permits were issued to Chesapeake Exploration, LLC.

The other township that appears to be heating up with gas and oil activity is North Township. Five permits were issued there and all of them were issued to Chesapeake Exploration, LLC. for drilling on two separate properties.

Belmont County

Another hot spot for new permits was Belmont County. The ODNR issued eight permits for drilling. There are now 80 total permits for Belmont County, 13 drilled wells and 19 producing wells. Four permits were issued in Kirkwood and four were issued in Somerset Township. The permits were issued for two different pieces of property. All of the permits were issued to the Gulfport Energy Corporation.

Carroll County

Carroll County also appears to be moving along with seven new permits issued by the ODNR. There are now a total of 378 permits issued in Carroll County, 117 drilled wells and 186 producing wells.

The seven permits were issued in Perry Township and Washington Township. The permits issued in Perry Township were to Chesapeake Exploration. A single permit was issued in Washington Township was to R.E. Gas Development, LLC.

Two permits

In Columbiana County, there were two permits issued by the ODNR. The permits were issued to Chesapeake Exploration for one well site in Butler Township.

The ODNR has issued a total of 99 permits for Columbiana County so far. There are 21 producing wells and 39 drilled wells awaiting infrastructure such as pipelines or compressor stations to get the product to the market.

Meanwhile in Monroe County, there were two permits issued for one well site in Seneca Township. ODNR issued the permits to the Antero Resources Corporation. There are currently 63 permits in Monroe County. According to the ODNR, there are 30 wells drilled and 14 producing wells.

Single permit

In Guernsey County,  a single permit was issued to American Energy Utica, LLC. by the ODNR. According to the ODNR records, the well was already drilled in Wills Township. It is the first permit issued in Guernsey County to American Energy Utica, LLC.

According to the ODNR, there are now 1,099 total Utica shale horizontal permits issued in Ohio. So far, 747 wells have been drilled. At last count, there were 40 drilling rigs in Ohio.

Marcellus shale

The CNX Gas Company, LLC. was issued a permit to drill a Marcellus shale well in Monroe County, according to the ODNR. The well will be located in Switzerland Township.

There are a total of 36 horizontal Marcellus shale well permits issued in Ohio, according to the ODNR. There are 23 wells drilled and two rigs are reportedly drilling Marcellus shale wells at last count.

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection issued 201 unconventional gas well permits during the month of February. The DEP also reported there were 57 wells drilled.

Susquehanna and Bradford counties

Susquehanna County led the state with the highest number of new permits issued. Susquehanna and Bradford counties are credited with starting the shale boom several years ago. There were 46 permits issued for new well sites in February. According to the DEP, there were five wells drilled.
In Bradford County, there were 35 new permits issued and eight wells were drilled, according to the DEP.

Washington County

The DEP reported there were 39 well permits issued in Washington County throughout February. Of those 39, 24 were for new wells and 15 permits were issued to allow drillers to dig deeper into the ground. There were 10 wells drilled in February, according to the DEP.

In Butler County, there were 15 new permits issued and 13 wells were drilled during February.
And in Greene County, where drilling has been gaining ground, there were 13 new well permits issued and nine wells were drilled.

Lawrence, Mercer counties

In Lawrence county, there was one permit issued and two wells drilled.

The DEP also reported there were two new well permits issued for well sites in Mercer County.

West Virginia

Drilling into the Marcellus shale also started moving forward in West Virginia during the month of February.  A glimpse at the counties in the Farm and Dairy readership area shows how fast shale drilling is progressing.

Marshall County

In West Virginia, the Department of Environmental Protection, issued six permits for Marcellus shale wells in Marshall County. The permits were issued to Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC. (a subsidiary of Chesapeake Exploration, LLC.) and Noble Energy, Inc.

The permit issued to Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC was issued for a farm owned by Dorothy Yoho. The remaining permits were issued for property owned by Consol Mining Company, LLC. All of the permits were issued for horizontal wells.

Wetzel County

In Wetzel County, a permit was issued to HG Energy, LLC. The property is owned by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources.

Tyler County

Drilling Marcellus shale wells in Tyler County will be moving at full speed ahead as 18 permits were issued by the WVDEP during the month of February. A total of five permits were issued to Triad Hunter, LLC.  The permits were issued for one well pad on property owned by Velma L. Wells.

Five permits were issued to the Antero Resources Corporation for one well pad on property owned by Forest and Brenda Moore.

Another five permits were issued to Antero Resources Corporation for one well pad on property owned by the Coastal Lumber Co.

The remaining three permits were issued to Jay-Bee Oil and Gas for a well pad on property owned by George and Joann Woodburn.