SALEM, Ohio — If the number of shale permits issued during January are any indication, it will be a busy spring, full of drilling.

There were a total of 37 new shale well permits issued during January in Ohio.

Carroll County

Carroll County continues to lead Ohio for the number of shale permits issued, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ shale permit list for January.
Single permits were issued in Center, Perry, and Fox townships in Carroll County. Four permits were issued for well sites in Washington Township.

Five separate permits were issued to well sites in Loudon Township. All of the permits issued were to Chesapeake Exploration.

Noble County

Noble County also moved to the top of the list, with five permits issued in Enoch Township in January. All of them were issued to CNX Gas Co. LLC. In addition, a permit was also issued to Antero Reserve Appalachian Corporation in Beaver Township, according to the ODNR.

Guernsey County

Guernsey County also appears to be heating up, as more permits were issued in that county during January. A total of four permits were issued to Hess Ohio Developments in Oxford Township. In addition, single permits were issued to EQT Production Company in Valley Township and PDC Energy Inc. in Richland Township.

Columbiana County

There were three permits issued in Columbiana County. Two permits were issued to well sites in Franklin and Center townships to Chesapeake Exploration. One permit was issued in Salem Township to the Hilcorp Energy Company.

Harrison County

Two separate companies received permits in Harrison County. Chesapeake Exploration received two permits in Stock Township and one in Moorefield Township.

According to the ODNR, in Short Creek Township, one permit was issued to Hess Ohio Resources.

Belmont County

In Belmont County, three permits were issued. Two in Washington Township were issued to Gulfport Energy Corporation and one in Richland Township to the Hess Ohio Development.

Jefferson County

In Jefferson County, Chesapeake Exploration received permits for well sites in Springfield and Brush Creek townships.

One permit was issued in Mahoning County. The Hilcorp Energy Corporation received the go-ahead for a well site in Poland Township.

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, 245 new permits were issued in January, and 13 permits were issued to allow the wells to be drilled deeper.

Bradford County

In Bradford County, where the shale drilling began a little over five years ago, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection reported 93 new permits were issued for wells there.

In Butler County, a total of 14 permits were issued for gas wells during January.
The Pennsylvania DEP also reported that a single permit was issued in Mercer County. And in Washington County, there were 34 permits issued for new wells and eight permits were issued to allow companies to drill deeper.

There were no permits issued for well sites in Beaver or Lawrence counties.

West Virginia

The Farm and Dairy was also able to obtain permit information for the month of January from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection on permits being issued for Marcellus shale wells.

According to the database on the West Virginia DEP website, there were no permits issued for well sites in Hancock County.

Brooke County

There was one permit issued to Chesapeake Appalachia,LLC., for a well slated to be located on Bethany College property in Brooke County.

Ohio County

In Ohio County, it appears four farms are going to be the site of four wells drilled there, according to the West Virginia DEP.  All four wells are being drilled by Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC.

Nine permits were issued to Gastar Exploration USA Inc. to drill in Marshall County. The wells will be drilled on property owned by the CNX Gas Company, LLC.
And in Wetzel County, there were five permits issued to the Stone Energy Corporation for wells to be drilled on property the company owns.

Tyler County

In Tyler County, six permits were issued to the driller Jay-Bee Oil and Gas on two different farms. One permit was also issued to Antero Resources Appalachian Corporation.