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Columbiana's Sanor Well Awaits Pipeline Infrastructure
KNOX Township, Ohio -- For weeks, there was little sign of activity at the well newly drilled on the Sanor farm along North Georgetown Road in Columbiana County. Then, in March, a convoy of trucks appeared and, for about a week, lined the two-lane road in Knox Township.
“This whole road was filled with trucks,” says Milton Starkey, whose house borders the Sanor property and the well. “It was packed for about a week, and it’s been pretty steady ever since.”
The Sanor well, the first drilled in Columbiana County by Chesapeake Energy Corp., is nearing completion and was hydraulically fractured in March. Once the well is completed, the next step is to connect it with a larger network of pipeline under development by Chesapeake Midstream LLC, a subsidiary of Chesapeake.
In late April, workers on a completion rig at the site sank some of the final tubing in place to finish the well. Chesapeake has also constructed a small water storage structure and processor closer to North Georgetown Road.
“We’ve been contacted by Chesapeake Midstream for the well [Sanor] site in Knox Township,” says Bob Durbin, chief deputy engineer in Columbiana County, referring to a proposed pipeline from the Sanor well. The pipeline is expected to extend two miles, and initially tie into an existing line.
A map M3 Midstream/Momentum presented during the Hart Energy Midstream Conference in March shows a network of proposed pipelines that extends from Harrison County north through Carroll County and well into Columbiana County. Lines also spread west and east off the spine of the pipeline as it proceeds north.
The Sanor well, just outside Salem, would tap into this massive system.
Another line is highlighted in Mahoning County, presumably to link wells issued permits in Goshen Township. It appears to tie into a Dominion East Ohio pipeline that runs north and south.
“It’s actually been pretty quiet over the last three weeks,” Durbin reports. He says that he’ll most likely see activity pick up in the coming months as the construction season hits full swing. “We’re seeing more permits and it looks like we’ll be pretty busy in the next month or so.”
Chesapeake Energy is the largest leaseholder in the Utica shale, with more than 1.3 million acres under contract. The company operates 10 rigs in the Utica fields and plans to average 13 rigs in 2012 and 22 rigs in 2013, the company announced May 1.
Chesapeake has drilled 59 wells in the play thus far. Nine of these are producing, 15 are being completed, another 15 are waiting on completion, and 20 await pipeline infrastructure.
The company has shifted its focus to the “wet” gas window of the Utica in search of propane, ethane and butane – products that command a much higher price than dry gases such as methane. Of Chesapeake’s nine producing wells, eight are inside the wet gas window, the company reported.
Chesapeake’s best well, the Buell 8H in Harrison County, had an initial peak rate of 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and is now producing 1,040 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Three wells recently placed into production in Carroll County have also shown promise, Chesapeake reports. The Shaw 5H well achieved some 1,440 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the Burgett well is producing 1,210 barrels of oil equivalent daily, and the Coniglio well had a strong showing in a limited flow test with 1,125 barrels per day.
North Georgetown’s Starkey says that despite what residents expected, he’s not experienced any problems as a result of the Sanor well. “Everybody said that this was going to be noisy,” he says. “It hasn’t. My water hasn’t been affected either.”
Some residents, he adds, are concerned by the company’s use of hydraulic fracturing. The process injects millions of gallons of water, sand and small amounts of chemicals into the earth to blast open shale rock formations thousands of feet deep. Once the rock is fractured, natural gas is released and brought to the surface.
Opponents of the process say it poses a danger to surface water supplies and the environment, and have lodged efforts to ban the practice in Ohio and other states.
However, Starkey did say that about 10 years ago, a small drilling operation nearby caused his water to turn black for about a week. “It’s OK now, and so far I haven’t had any problems.”
Compared to the large landholders in the area, Starkey’s lease covers a modest 1.33 acres, he reports. “I’m only allowed to go so close to the site before they wave me off,” he says.
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Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.