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Posts tagged "Akron Beacon Journal"

Chesapeake Energy Finding Promising Returns in Ohio River Valley

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 | 0 Comments

Last year, Chesapeake Energy released the results of its Buell 8H well in Archer Township, Harrison County, to much fanfare. The returns – a peak rate of 9.5 million cubic feet per day of natural gas and 1,425 barrels per day of natural gas liquids and oil (3,010 barrels of oil equivalent) per day – sent a strong signal across the region, and was an incarnation of the incredible potential our natural energy resources hold for future development.

Less than 50 miles down the road in West Virginia, Chesapeake is once again drawing attention with more promising wells coming online.

One of the company’s wells in Ohio County is showing very strong initial production results. The Mark Hickman 5H well has an initial test rate of about 1,195 barrels of oil equivalent per day (290 b/d oil, 305 b/d natural gas liquids, 3.6 mmcf/d).

Another well, just a short hop south into Marshall County, is returning 305 b/d of oil.

While it’s still early, the results bode well for West Virginia’s panhandle and it’s potential in housing liquids and oil. Combined with the company’s investments in other shale formations, including the $1.5 billion dedicated to develop Ohio’s Utica Shale, these production numbers offer encouragement to the company, and it’s future success in the region.

This notion was highlighted by Chesapeake executives in its recent earning report:

We continue to deliver on our liquids growth targets, led by a year-over-year increase of nearly 40,000 barrels per day in oil production. We achieved this despite the sale of nearly 18,000 barrels per day of oil production associated with our exit from the Permian Basin during the 2012 third and fourth quarters. We believe this performance ranks Chesapeake among the top three organic oil growth stories in the industry for 2012. – Steven C. Dixon, Chief Operating Officer (2/21/13)

Across the river in Ohio, the company seeks to expand on it’s success.

As the Akron Beacon Journal recently reported, Chesapeake is encouraged by its returns coming out of Ohio in 2012. The production levels of four wells that came on late in 2012 were highlighted in the call:

• The Cain well (Jefferson County): 1,540 barrels of oil equivalents per day (6.7 mcf natural gas and 425 b/d of natural gas liquids).

• The Walters well (Carroll County): 1,140 barrels of oil equivalents per day (3.6 mcf  natural gas per day, 315 b/d oil and 220 barrels NGL).

• The Houyouse well (Carroll County): 1,730 barrels of oil equivalents (5.4 mcf of natural gas per day, 525 b/d oil, 305 b/d NGL).

• The Coe well (Carroll County)  2,225 barrels of oil equivalents per day.

With development of the Utica/Point Pleasant and Marcellus formations in the Ohio River Valley continuing to expand, we can expect continued success in production in 2013.

I am very proud of what our team has accomplished thus far and look forward to driving further liquids production growth and capital efficiencies in 2013. – Steven C. Dixon, Chief Operating Officer (2/21/13)

As more infrastructure is put into place – such as the recently announced cracker plant in West Virginia – the region will experience an uptick not only in production numbers like these, but in investments and job creation in our communities as well.

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Beacon Journal: Turning Waste Into Wealth for Ohio

Monday, October 3rd, 2011 | 0 Comments

A couple days removed from the Columbus Dispatch story on the regulated use of injection wells in Ohio, the Akron Beacon Journal follows up on the issue today, with reporter Bob Downing providing lots of good facts and figures – and also a great profile of a few local folks who continue to benefit from the safe disposition of wastewater deep underground.

In doing so, Downing touches on one of the big differences between Ohio and Pennsylvania, where landowners last year collected more than $1.8 billion in rents and royalties alone as a result of Marcellus development. But that $1.8 billion came only from wells that produce natural gas. Here in Ohio, not only will royalties come in the form of energy production at the beginning of the process, but for some folks, they’ll also be generated at the end when it comes time to dispose of the water.

The Beacon Journal tracks the story of one gentleman who’s been collecting rents for years – Roger Root of Trumbell County. According to the Mr. Root: We didn’t have Christmas for a couple of years, but the payments made sure that the taxes were paid and that we didn’t lose the farm. It helped save our farm. It saved us.” And all this, remember, from a well that isn’t even producing oil or natural gas.

Of course, for everything the paper gets right in its piece today, it somehow forgets to mention in its nearly 1,800-word piece that injection wells aren’t just regulated ODNR – they’re regulated federally by EPA as well. As we wrote last week in our rebuttal to the Dispatch series, injection wells have been used in the United States since the 1930s – not just by oil and natural gas producers, but by manufacturers, mining folks, chemical companies, and just about every other industrial entity you can imagine.

But no one in Ohio has really heard of injection wells ‘til now, have they? And there’s a pretty good reason for that. According to ODNR: “We have not had any subsurface contamination of groundwater since we took over the program in 1983.” According to EPA, there are more than 144,000 wastewater injection wells in operation today in the United States – with those wells capturing and permanently storing more than two billion barrels of brine each and every day.  

Compare that to Ohio: 181 wells, 168 million gallons over a four year span. Not exactly the “flood of wastewater” described by the Dispatch last week, is it? Heck, we’re barely even a rounding error.

Of course, what may be a “rounding error” from a national perspective is much more significant than for more than a few Ohio residents directly benefiting from the work. You see, not only are benefits accruing to Roger Root, but local Ohio businesses are also taking advantage – especially the ones who haul that water around.

The Beacon Journal mentions one such person: Ray Pander of Palmyra Township. According to his website, Ray hauls water at $74 an hour – and collects an additional $1 for every gallon of brine he disposes of. Currently, Ray’s trucking company employs 30 people and features a fleet of 22 trucks. But with the Utica Shale coming online, no one should be surprised when ol’ Ray hangs the “Help Wanted” outside his office in Newton Falls.

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