The Daily Digger

From Business Journal Daily: Houston-based Hilcorp Energy Co. has applied for permits to drill four new horizontal wells in Columbiana County, according to the latest data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.  If approved, the wells would be the first permits issued for new wells in the northern tier of eastern Ohio’s Utica shale this year.  According to ODNR, the agency received on March 26 applications for two new wells apiece on the Wertz and Johnston properties in Elk Run Township. There was no new permit activity reported in Mahoning or Trumbull counties, according to ODNR.  Meanwhile, the agency reported it issued 14 new permits for horizontal wells for the week ended March 24 in Ohio’s Utica. Read more by clicking here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Reuters: Saudi Arabia and Russia are working on a historic long-term pact that could extend controls over world crude supplies by major exporters for many years.  Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Reuters that Riyadh and Moscow were considering a deal to greatly extend a short-term alliance on oil curbs that began in January 2017 after a crash in crude prices.  “We are working to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10 to 20 year agreement,” the crown prince told Reuters in an interview in New York late on Monday.  “We have agreement on the big picture, but not yet on the detail.” Russia, not a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has worked alongside the 14-member group during previous oil gluts, but a 10 to 20 year deal between the two would be unprecedented. The whole article can be read by clicking here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Yale School of Public Health: Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health have discovered that the rates of two major sexually transmitted infections (STIs), gonorrhea and chlamydia, are 21% and 19% higher, respectively, in Ohio counties with high shale gas activity (“fracking”), compared to counties without any fracking. Rates of a third STI, syphilis, were not elevated.  The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.   Shale gas extraction is associated with large influxes of specialized, trained workers into rural areas to meet the labor demands of the drilling rigs, and commonly involves the formation of “work camps” composed of relatively young men. The influx of workers in these situations is thought to increase STI risk because male workers typically live and socialize in communities with masculinized social norms, do not bring families and thus have opportunities to seek other sex partners, and may have few emotional ties to the local community...

From an Eclipse Resources press release: “Additionally, the Company has continued to showcase its operational capabilities, successfully drilling its longest Dry Gas lateral to date, the Wiley D 8H, with a total measured depth of approximately 30,130 feet and a lateral extension of approximately 19,335 feet. This well was drilled from spud to total depth in 20.5 days and set a new Utica Dry Gas lateral length record for the Company. Our team has also now spud the Company’s first Flat Castle area well, which will include a number of scientific and data mining technical applications to allow us to further study the potential of this new area. We anticipate turning this well to sales late in the third quarter of 2018.”  “I am pleased to note that, based upon recent State of Ohio cumulative production data, Eclipse Resources had eight of the top ten oil producing wells during the fourth quarter of 2017. We believe this data further confirms the Company’s competitive advantage over ...

From WOSU: The first day of spring is bringing a Winter Weather Advisory in Central Ohio. And while the snow begins to come down, legislators in an Ohio House committee will be considering a new way to remove ice from the roads - using the byproduct of fracking.  HB 393 , which was introduced in October, would allow for the sale of fracking brine for surface applications, like deicing roadways during Ohio's slick winters. The bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by Republican state Rep. Anthony Devitis and Democrat state Rep. Michael O'Brien.  O'Brien says a particular company, Aquasalina, processes brine from hydraulic fracturing wells to make it usable.  "Whether it be residential deicing, for something as simple as one sidewalk," he says, "or sell to road departments for the county road departments, the city street departments and such, for the deicing method for the winter months." Not surprisingly, this is opposed by environmental groups such as...

From Business Journal Daily: The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has issued permits for Pittsburgh-based Highland Field Services Inc. to drill three new Class II injection wells just off state Route 7 in the township.  ODNR’s Division of Oil and Gas approved the three permits March 16, according to ODNR records.  The company, a division of Seneca Resources, last year received permits to drill two wells at the site. Preparatory work at the site is underway, with work crews clearing out trees and brush to make room for the well complex.  The injection well site is just west of state Route 7 in the township and south of Merwin-Chase Road.  Class II injection wells are used to store contaminated wastewater from oil and gas drilling operations.  Brookfield Township trustees have long opposed the development of new injection wells in the township, citing their potential for triggering earthquakes and the risks of environmental contamination. Continue...

by Jackie Stewart, Energy in Depth It took less than three months for Ohio Gubernatorial Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich to realize that running on a platform to “stop oil and gas development” was a bad idea. So bad in fact, that he skipped his keynote speech at the first event held by the  fake Tri-County Landowners Coalition   this weekend. Is Kucinich running from his policy to end oil and gas development in Ohio because all of his fellow Democratic gubernatorial opponents have disagreed with him? Or did he skip the so-called “leasing forum” because they couldn’t even muster 20 people to attend? In either event, it was another epic fail for the fringe environmental activists and highlights, yet again, that Ohio soundly supports oil and natural gas development. You may recall that on Jan. 17 the “ moonbeam congressman ” announced his candidacy for Ohio governor. Just eight days later, Kucinich  launched a media stunt  where he unveiled his most pressing po...