Akron Beacon Journal...
Natural gas, oil reserves are big, Ohio is estimating  
November 5, 2011 

KIRTLAND: A state official estimated Tuesday that as much as 5 billion barrels of oil and 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be underground in eastern Ohio. 

The oil and natural gas is in the Utica shale that is 100 to 300 feet thick under the eastern half of the state, said Lawrence Wickstrom, state geologist and head of the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s Division of Geological Survey. 

And this, he said, is “a very conservative estimate” of the Utica potential. No dollar figure was attached to the numbers, but others have said the Utica shale will produce tens of billions of dollars in Ohio. 

The price of crude oil is now around $91 a barrel. And the natural gas projection would be enough to fuel Ohio for 21 years. 

And that’s not all. Ohio has an even-deeper shale, the Lower Huron, that drillers could be tapping and developing within 10 years, Wickstrom said. That shale lies under the eastern half of Ohio in thick seams, but getting to it will be costly, the experts say. 

The discussion was part of a roundtable on the subject convened at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland by U.S. Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Bainbridge Township. 

Rick Simmers, of ODNR’s newly created Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management, called Ohio’s existing rules on drilling “very strict” and some of the “most stringent laws in the United States.” 

Simmers offered his comments at a wide-ranging roundtable discussion that was chaired by U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Toledo, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 

Simmers said Ohio saw the shale’s potential and began working four years ago to get ready for the energy companies. This included toughening Ohio drilling rules through Senate Bill 165 and preparing a management plan. 

Ohio also saw what worked and what didn’t work in Pennsylvania where the drilling took off first, he said. 

He said the state’s rules are, according to an industry source, “thorough, fair and predictable.” 

Ohio is “well positioned” to oversee drilling into the Marcellus and Utica shales and confident that its rules will be effective, he said. 

Simmers’ division was created by the ODNR on Oct. 1 to facilitate oversight on the booming natural gas industry in the state. It was formerly part of the Division of Mineral Resources Management that also oversees coal and other mining operations. 

Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Granville-based Ohio Oil & Gas Association, supported Simmers’ view that state laws are better than federal laws. 

Andrew Doehrel, president and chief executive officer of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, said he thinks Ohio’s drilling rules are satisfactory. 

The discussion did not get into the handling of drilling liquids, polluted aquifers and health threats that are commonly cited by critics of horizontal drilling-hydrualic fracturing or fracking. 

Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy is negotiating with Findlay-based Marathon Petroleum Co. about the possibility of refining oil from its Utica shale wells in Canton, said Terry Fleming of the Ohio Petroleum Council. 

Chesapeake Energy is a major player in Ohio shale drilling. It has invested nearly $2 billion and has leased 1.5 million acres in Ohio. The company has said it plans to drill 12,000 wells on its Ohio leases. Preliminary tests indicate that the wells will produce natural gas, oil and so-called natural gas liquids — ethane, butane and propane — that are lucrative. 

Chesapeake is seeking a deal with Marathon Petroleum to refine the Ohio-produced oil in Canton and Catlettsburg. Ky., Fleming said. 

Scott Rotruck, Chesapeake’s vice president of corporate development, said the company is not prepared to discuss the refining arrangement. 

Ohio now has four active refineries but none are currently processing oil from Ohio wells, Fleming said. 

Horizontal drilling is being conducted for the first time at two oil wells in northwest Ohio, and could signal a rebirth of a major oil field from the late 1800s, he said. 

The wells won’t be fracked, but the two wells in Hardin County are the first effort to get more oil from old wells through horizontal drilling, he said. 

Read this and other articles at the Akron Beacon Journal