SALEM, Ohio — The number of permits issued for drilling in the Utica shale in Ohio stayed strong during May.

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources permit list, Harrison County led with the number of permits issued. A total of 16 permits were issued during May.

Harrison County

A total of 10 permits were issued in Harrison County to Chesapeake Exploration in North Township and one was issued to Chesapeake in German Township. Four permits were issued in Freeport Township to Gulfport Energy Corporation and one was issued in Cadiz Township to Hess Ohio Development LLC. The additions bring the total number of permits issued to date to 98.

Noble County

Behind Harrison County was Noble County where 10 permits for horizontal drilling through the Utica shale were issued in May. All of the permits were issued in Seneca Township with seven permits issued to CNX Gas Co. LLC and three to Antero Reserve Appalachian Corporation.

There are now 42 permits issued in Noble County for Utica shale wells, according to the ODNR.

Carroll County

Seven permits were issued in Carroll County in May. Chesapeake Exploration received permits for four sites in Loudon Township, and one in Perry Township. R.E. Gas Development LLC received permits for two sites in Washington Township.

There are now 266 total permits issued in Carroll County, with 103 wells drilled, 51 wells producing and the remainder are still in the permitting stage.

Columbiana County

The ODNR reported four permits were issued in Columbiana County bringing the total number of well permits issued in the county to 71. The permits were issued in Hanover and Franklin townships to Chesapeake Exploration.

Mahoning, Portage, Jefferson

New permits were also issued in Mahoning County to Hilcorp Energy Company for two wells in Poland Township. In Jefferson County, Chesapeake Exploration received a permit for one site in Smithfield Township.

A permit was issued in Portage County Mountaineer Keystone LLC for a site in Nelson Township.

According to the ODNR permit list, a total of 686 horizontal permits have been issued and 335 have been drilled.

Pennsylvania

Across the state line in Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection reported issuing 171 permits and 131 wells were drilled during May.

Sites in Greene County, a county south of Pittsburgh, received 33 permits for drilling and eight wells were drilled in that county during May. The permits were issued to Alpha Shale Reserve LLP; EQT Production Company, Chesapeake Appalachia, Chevron Appalachia, LLC and Vantage Energy Appalachia LLC.

In Washington County, the DEP issued 23 permits for drilling into the shale. The permits were issued to EQT Production Co.; Range Resources Appalachia LLC.; Chesapeake Appalachia; CNX Gas Company, LLC; Noble Energy Inc. and Rice Drilling B LLC.

Twenty-one wells were drilled in Washington County throughout the month.

In Bradford County, further east and where the shale boom began, 19 permits were issued for new wells, and 22 wells were drilled during May. The permits were issued to Talisman Energy USA Inc., Chesapeake Appalachia, and Southwestern Energy Production Company.

Butler County

Drilling also appears to be ramping up in Butler County. There were six wells drilled during May and six permits were issued. The permits were issued to EM Energy Pa. LLC., R.E. Gas Development, LLC., XTO Energy Inc. and Swepi, LP, a division of Shell.

Beaver and Lawrence

In Beaver County, three permits were issued, and in Lawrence, two permits were issued in May.

The permits in Beaver County were issued to Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC and PennEnergy Resources, LLC. The permits issued in Lawrence County were issued to R.E. Gas Development LLC and Hilcorp Energy Co. A total of seven wells were drilled in Lawrence County, according to the DEP wells drilled report.

Three permits were issued in Allegheny County and three wells were drilled, according to the DEP. The permits were issued to Range Resources Appalachia.

One permit was issued in Armstrong County and two wells were drilled. The permit was issued to Snyder Brothers Inc., according to the DEP.

West Virginia

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection also issued permits for drilling in the Marcellus shale during May. There were no permits issued for drilling through the Utica shale.

There were a total of three permits issued in Marshall County during May. The DEP issued two permits for farms in Marshall County to the driller Noble Energy Inc., and one permit was issued to Gastar Exploration USA, Inc. on a piece of land owned by Bayer Material Sciences, LLC.

In Wetzel County, a permit was issued to Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC for property owned by Ridgetop Capital L.P.

Two permits were issued for wells to be drilled on two farms in Marion County by Trans Energy, Inc.