SALEM, Ohio — June was another slow month for the number of oil and gas well drilling permits issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. In fact, only 34 permits were issued the entire month.
Harrison County
Harrison County led the pack with a total of 14 permits issued. Seven permits were issued in Monroe Township to Chesapeake Exploration, four in Cadiz Township to Hess Ohio Development, two in Nottingham Township to American Energy Utica and one in German Township to Chesapeake Exploration.
There are now 154 producing wells in Harrison County, and 143 wells have been drilled and await infrastructure so the products can reach the market.
Columbiana County
The ODNR issued 12 permits in Columbiana County during June. The ODNR issued five permits in Elkrun Township to three different wells to Chesapeake Exploration.
Two permits were issued each in Washington Township and Madison Township to Chesapeake Exploration.
In addition, single permits were issued to Chesapeake Exploration for sites in Unity, Middleton and Fairfield townships.
As of June 27, 2015, there were 22 wells drilled and 52 producing wells in Columbiana County.
Carroll County
In Carroll County, the ODNR issued six permits, including three permits in Orange Township to Chesapeake Exploration, two in Harrison Township to RE Gas Development and one in Washington Township to RE Gas Development.
Carroll County, which remains the leader with the most permits issued at 487, currently has 364 producing wells and 68 are in some sort of drilling phase.
Belmont County
There were two permits issued in Belmont County during June. One permit was issued in Mead Township to XTO Energy and one in Pease Township to American Energy Utica.
The ODNR reports there are 83 producing wells in Belmont County and 86 wells are in some sort of drilling phase.
There are currently 1,943 permits issued for wells in the Utica shale in Ohio and 1,520 wells have been drilled. The ODNR reports there are 909 producing wells.
As of June 30, there were 20 drilling rigs in the Utica shale in Ohio.
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued 192 permits for unconventional or shale wells in June.
So far there have been 1,116 shale permits issued in the Commonwealth since Jan. 1, 2015. The DEP reported there were 84 wells drilled during June, and 581 shale wells were drilled in 2015 so far.
Here is a breakdown of how many permits were issued in the Farm and Dairy circulation area.
Bradford County
The number of permits issued continues to soar in Bradford County where the Marcellus shale is credited with its beginning. The DEP issued 28 new permits during June and so far in 2015, the DEP has issued 169 permits there. There were four shale wells drilled during June and 24 wells drilled since January.
Greene County
The DEP issued 25 permits for wells in Greene County during June. So far, 171 permits have been issued in 2015 for Greene County.
The DEP reported there were five wells drilled during June and 36 so far in 2015.
Washington County
Another leader in the number of shale wells drilled and permits issued is Washington County. The DEP reported there were 22 permits issued during June and 174 so far in 2015. The DEP reported there were 10 shale wells drilled during June and 89 so far this year.
Butler County
Permitting and drilling appears to be moving at a fast clip in Butler County as well.
The DEP reported there were 10 permits issued during June and 60 have been issued since Jan. 1, 2015. The DEP reports there were 10 wells drilled in Butler County during June and 51 have been drilled since the beginning of the year.
Beaver County
There were six permits issued last month for Beaver County sites. The DEP has issued a total of 23 permits since Jan. 1, 2015. One well was drilled during June and five shale wells have been drilled in the county since January.
Lawrence County
The DEP issued two permits for new shale wells in Lawrence County in June. There were 20 permits issued for wells in Lawrence County since the beginning of the year. There were no wells drilled during June, however the DEP reported there has been one shale well drilled since the beginning of the year.
West Virginia
The West Virginia Department of Environment Protection issued three permits during June for new wells in Brooke County. The permits were issued to the SWN Production Company for a site owned by the Trust of Gene Valentine.
The DEP issued five new permits in Marshall County during June. One permit was issued to Noble Energy, for land owned by Steve and Ed Ward. The remaining four permits were issued to Chevron Appalachia on land owned by Richard Woods, along with Nancy and Jane Wiley.
Nine Marcellus shale permits were issued during June for new wells in Wetzel County. Five permits were issued to American Energy Marcellus for surface land owned by the state of West Virginia.
In addition, permits for three new wells were issued to the SWN Production Company for land owned by William D. and Shirley Richea, and a single permit was issued to the EQT Production Company for land owned by Richard Dallison.
The DEP also issued two permits for drilling the Utica shale during June. The permits were issued to the Stone Energy Corporation for land owned by Ronald Gene Conley.
The DEP issued a total of seven new permits for Marcellus shale wells in Tyler County during June. Four permits were issued to the EQT Production Company for land owned by Donna J. Peter.
The DEP also issued three permits in Tyler County to Antero Resources Corporation for two different parcels of land.
