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ODNR Releases 1st Quarter Well Production Numbers
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Two wells Hilcorp Energy Co. drilled in the Mahoning Valley are showing promise in terms of decent natural gas flow, according to newly released well production data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. These production levels, however, are dwarfed by the massive output other wells are experiencing in the southern tier of Utica shale in eastern Ohio.
ODNR production results for the quarter ended March 31 show that Hilcorp's well in Poland Township is the most productive in the northern tier of the Utica play, excluding Columbiana County.
Hilcorp reported that its well at the Carbon Limestone Landfill enjoyed production of 132 million cubic feet of natural gas over 89 days in the first quarter, well below some of the mega-numbers reported for wells far more productive in southeastern Ohio counties, but the best among wells producing in Trumbull and Mahoning counties.
The well produced very little oil -- just 20 barrels -- records show.
Hilcorp's other well, the Salem-Grubbs well in Columbiana County, fared better. It produced 145 million cubic feet of gas, but no oil, over the entire quarter, ODNR records show.
Halcon Resources Corp., which announced earlier this year that it was suspending its drilling program in the northern tier of the Utica, reported that its Kibler 1H well in Lordstown produced 70.98 million cubic feet of gas over 66 days, and its Kibler 2-3H well produced 79.032 million cubic feet over 48 days.
Halcon also reported that its Avalon 1H well in Vienna Township produced 49.83 million cubic feet of gas over 48 days. And its Brughler well in Trumbull County recorded 10.8 million cubic feet of gas in 68 days.
Halcon reported results from two other Ohio wells, the Davidson 1H and the Grenamyer 1H well, both in Jackson Township. The Davidson 1H saw production of 23.1 million cubic feet of gas through 49 days while Grenamyer produced 10.8 million cubic feet over 10 days.
BP America's wells produced less-than-stellar results in Trumbull County during the first quarter. In April, the company said it would place all of its leasehold positions in the Utica up for sale. Its most productive well for the quarter was the Buckeye well in Hartford Township, with just 13.9 million cubic feet produced over 26 days.
Trumbull County's Utica wells produced 210.7 million cubic feet of natural gas during the quarter. Mahoning County wells produced 166.1 million cubic feet.
Meantime, production results in Columbiana County are much stronger, according to ODNR data.
Thirty-one wells across Columbiana County reported production numbers during the quarter. The best-performing well in Columbiana County is Chesapeake Energy Corp.'s Hruby Farms well in Franklin Township. It yielded 292 million cubic feet of natural gas.
The Tritten well in Center Township, the subject of Gloria Tritten's "Field of View" column in the print edition of The Business Journal, produced 86.9 million cubic feet of gas over just 24 days, ODNR records show.
Other strong gas wells in Columbiana County are Chesapeake's Hanover Farms well in Hanover Township, with 199.73 million cubic feet of natural gas produced during the 90-day period, ODNR reported.
None of the wells in Mahoning, Columbiana or Trumbull counties has proved to be strong oil producers. The strongest oil well across the three counties is that on the Jan Paul Farms in Hanover Township; it produced 7,477 barrels over 86 days.
These oil and gas numbers pale in comparison to the production figures emerging from wells drilled in the southeastern tier of the Utica play, especially in Monroe, Noble and Belmont counties.
The top two natural gas producing wells in the Utica during the quarter were Eclipse Resources' Tippens well and Antero Resources' Gary well, both in Monroe County.
Eclipse's Tippen 6HS well yielded an impressive 1.117 billion cubic feet of gas over 80 days while Antero's Gary 2H unit produced 1.115 billion cubic feet of gas over 90 days.
Placed into perspective, these two wells in the southeastern Utica produced more natural gas than the 32 wells in Columbiana County combined. Columbiana County wells collectively produced 2.181 billion cubic feet of gas while the Eclipse and Antero wells alone produced more than 2.2 billion cubic feet.
Another well in Belmont County, Gulfport Energy's Irons well, produced 1.054 billion cubic feet during the quarter.
The most productive oil well across the Utica shale during the quarter is Antero Resources' Neuhart well in Noble County with 49,057 barrels over 64 days, ODNR data show.
Carroll County reported the most wells in production during the quarter with 224 wells online. The county's wells produced a combined 27.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas during the quarter and 691,273 barrels of oil.
Natural gas production across Ohio nearly doubled in 2013, largely because of exploration in the Utica shale, state officials said at an event last week.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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