Utica shale natural gas production rises again in Q3

Utica Shale development here to stay, more than 80 per cent of Ohio voters supported increasing development

By Jackie Stewart, EnergyInDepth

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) released third quarter production totals for Ohio’s Utica shale wells on Friday, and the numbers show that Ohio’s shale gas production continues to surge.

Natural gas production rose once again this past quarter (July 1 through Sept. 30) to 360,681,356 Mcf (360 billion cubic feet), an increase of 26,423,374 Mcf over second-quarter production.

Natural gas production was almost 46 per cent higher this past quarter when compared to the third quarter of 2015.

Third-quarter oil production did decline sharply year-over-year, dropping by more than 34 percent to 3,954,095 barrels when compared to 2015.

These third-quarter production totals were reported from the state’s 1,464 producing shale oil and natural gas wells. The ODNR also reported the following notable figures.

• The average amount of oil produced per well was 2,701 barrels.
• The average amount of natural gas produced per well was 246,367 Mcf.
• The average number of third quarter days in production was 85.

Ascent Resources was the big winner this past quarter, holding practically all the top producing natural gas wells in Belmont County, as the following chart illustrates. Belmont and Monroe Counties were yet again the top producing counties in the state.

In fact, 31 of the top wells are in those two counties.

The oil window continues to be found in Guernsey County, as for the third quarter in a row, the top producing shale wells are from this region of the Utica Shale play.

One thing is for sure, Utica Shale development is here to stay, which is why more than 80 per cent of Ohio voters support increasing our development of our energy resources.