Hilcorp Steps Up Drilling Plans in Mahoning County
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Hilcorp Energy Co. plans to drill at least five more horizontal wells at its Carbon Limestone site in Poland Township, according to records from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
ODNR lists five new wells for which it issued permits July 17 for Hilcorp's CLL2 pad in Poland that target the Utica/Point Pleasant shale formations in eastern Ohio.
Hilcorp, based in Houston, now holds 12 permits to drill at the Carbon Limestone site from two separate well pads. According to ODNR, the company has thus far drilled a single well there.
In May, work was completed on a pipeline that extends from the Carbon Limestone site to a Dominion East Ohio line to kick-start operations from the first well pad. The line was tied into Dominion as work continues on Pennant Midstream's $150 million processing plant on State Line Road in nearby Springfield Township.
Pennant Midstream, a partnership between Hilcorp and NiSource, is developing the Hickory Bend project, a $300 million pipeline and processing network that extends from western Pennsylvania, into Mahoning County and through Columbiana County.
Work on a second phase of the pipeline project started last week in Petersburg.
As of last week, there were 27 permits issued for Mahoning County since 2011 and five are drilled. CNX Gas Corp., a division of Consol Energy, has drilled three and another well was drilled by Chesapeake Energy Corp. early in the play. The Chesapeake well is inactive.
No permits were issued last week for new wells in either Trumbull or Columbiana County, according to ODNR.
ODNR said it issued 24 new Utica permits for the week beginning July 14.
Chesapeake Exploration LLC secured seven new permits in Carroll County and three in Harrison County, while Gulfport Energy was awarded nine in Guernsey County, ODNR reported.
As of July 20, ODNR has issued 812 permits for horizontal wells in the Utica, 390 of which are drilled and 117 producing, the agency reports.
In western Pennsylvania, Shell subsidiary SWEPI LP was awarded one permit July 17 to drill at the Patterson Farm in Little Beaver Township in Lawrence County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
There were no new permits issued for Mercer County, Pa., the DEP showed.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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