Despite Slow Start, Huge Impact of Utica Shale Exploration Still Expected

By -
From the Zanesville Times Recorder:
If there's any doubt about the future of Utica Shale in Muskingum County, local educators aren't letting on. Facilities such as Zane State College and the Mid-East Career and Technology Centers already have developed programs to cater specifically to the oil and gas industry, and more are on the way, they officials said. 
Production in Ohio is slower than anticipated, but it still is coming, said Paul LaPrise, an Energize Appalachian Ohio career specialist with Zane State. 
So far in Ohio, 144 horizontal Utica wells have been drilled, according to the latest Ohio Department of Natural Resources update. Using Pennsylvania and West Virginia as models, it should have been thousands by now, LaPrise said. 
"It's just kind of a difficult situation at the moment, but it's going to be a blessing, it's going to be an economic boon," LaPrise said. "It's going to be a very big boon for Zanesville. We're going to be right in the middle of it." 
LaPrise sees three main reasons for the sluggish start: concern over hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking; an abundance of natural gas, which is driving down prices; and uncertainty about the future of an oil and gas severance tax in Ohio. 
"These are problems that can be handled and will be handled, and pretty soon, we'll be producing the 200,000 jobs that we're anticipating," he said. 
There's "too much oil there" for companies to ignore Ohio, LaPrise said. "They'll come. It's just working out the details."
Read the rest of the article here. 

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Popular posts from this blog

Fracktivist in Dimock Releases Carefully Edited Video, Refuses to Release the Rest

By -
Image
From Energy in Depth: There is something very strange going on along Carter Road, in Dimock, Pennsylvania, and I’m not speaking of natural gas, methane migration, contamination, litigation or even the extensive water testing there by the EPA and others.  No, I’m talking about a new “Watergate” conspiracy, complete with 18 minutes of missing tape (well, video, actually). It seems the ever-present Green Party member and  naturist   Vera Scroggins  (a/k/a  Vera Duerga ) has posted a video of Craig Sautner meeting with the EPA.  Mysteriously, the video is but 14 seconds in length, cutting off conversation in what is obviously mid-stream.  It raises a question Craig Sautner, like  Ronald Reagan in Kings Row , might have asked, “Where’s the rest of me?’  Carter Road, isn’t Kings Row, of course, (at least not until you arrive at  the mansion Scott Ely, one of the Dimock litigants, is building with his royalty money ), but there appears to be a whole lot of film editing going on there to fi
Read more

The Second Largest Oil and Gas Merger - Cabot and Cimarex

By -
Image
       Due to investor pressure, the U.S shale drillers are being pushed to improve financial and operational performance after a few years of poor returns. Even though the industry has improved its numbers, when compared to last year, investors still want more to be done for them to earn more money.      That's why two mid-tier shale drillers, Cabot and Climarex, have decided to merge in order to eliminate $100 million in annual costs, which means more money for the investors. This all-stock transaction is valued at about $7.4 billion, which is relatively high for the oil and gas sector.      The new entity will be renamed and the headquarters located in Houston, Texas. Cabot shareholders will own 49.5 percent of the new entity, and Climarex the rest.       The Cimarex-Cabot merger will address the investor's demand for a higher amount of returning cash. The initial plan is to pay a 50-cent-per-share special dividend on closing the deal while offering a quarterly variable div
Read more

Do You Know The History of Fracking?

By -
Image
  In 2018, 59% of total oil production in the U.S came from hydraulic fracking, which means it accounted for more than two-thirds of domestically manufactured gas. By 2024, fracking will reach an astounding $68 billion market value! Of course, fracking is not a new drilling method as you can trace it back hundreds of years. That's why we want to consider the history of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). We will be stating historical facts about it and focusing on the major historical occurrences that have influenced modern-day fracking. Pre-Fracking Days The idea of fracking started back in 1862 when Edward A.L. Roberts (Civil War veteran) witnessed Confederate soldiers exploding artillery rounds into a canal that obstructed a battlefield. At the time, Edward A.L. Roberts called it superincumbent fluid tamping. On April 26th, 1865, Edward A.L. Roberts began experimenting with exploding torpedoes, which consisted of lowering a torpedo containing an amount of powder from fifteen to tw
Read more