Chesapeake Energy is offering the first evidence of how lucrative drilling in Ohio’s Utica shales might be.
The company, which is using the horizontal drilling and fracturing process that goes deep beneath the surface, provided drilling data this week on three of its initial wells in eastern Ohio and one in western Pennsylvania, and the results are very promising.
Aubrey K. McClendon, chief executive officer, said the firm was pleased by what he termed “very strong initial drilling results.”
Industry watchers were more descriptive.
“Those are big numbers, really big numbers,” said Tom Stewart, executive director of the 1,500-member Ohio Oil & Gas Association based in Granville, as he reacted to Chesapeake’s report.
One well near Cadiz, about 40 miles southeast of Canton, was particularly stunning.
“That’s really a lot of natural gas,” Stewart said.
According to Chesapeake, the so-called Buell well is producing 9.5 million cubic feet per day of natural gas and 1,425 barrels per day of natural gas liquids.
For comparison purposes, the well is producing 3,012 barrels of oil-equivalent per day. Among the more traditional Clinton sandstone formation wells, a good well may produce 100 to 150 barrels of energy equivalency, and it is rare to find one as high as 1,000 per day, Stewart said.
Two Chesapeake wells in Carroll County are producing lower volumes than the one near Cadiz, which is in Harrison County.
One is producing 3.1 million cubic feet of natural gas and 1,015 barrels per day of liquids with 1,530 barrels of equivalency per day; the other is producing 3.8 million cubic feet of natural gas plus 980 barrels of liquid or 1,615 barrels of equivalency per day, Chesapeake said.
Some wells in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale are comparable, but the volumes are bigger than anything found in Ohio currently, Stewart said.
Industry experts believe that the horizontal fracturing method of extracting gas from Ohio’s Utica shale formation will generate billions of dollars in energy revenues.
Chesapeake alone has locked up enough land leases to produce in excess of $20 billion, the company estimates.
In a statement this week, McClendon said his company has built “a commanding presence” in the Utica shale.
The Oklahoma-based energy firm is just beginning to analyze Ohio oil options.
The company also offered data from one well in Beaver County in western Pennsylvania.
It said data from eight additional wells as part of its discovery phase and the data from those wells is still being analyzed.
Chesapeake has leased 1.25 million acres in Ohio and is expecting to add an additional 250,000 acres. It has invested $1 billion in Ohio leases. The company says it might drill as many as 12,000 wells across Ohio.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.