COLUMBUS, Ohio – A state new report says Ohio energy companies extracted more than twice as much oil and gas from the Utica shale during three months last year than all of 2012.
The figures were released thanks to a new law that requires companies to file production updates for the geological formation every quarter instead of annually.
In the three-month-period ending in September, 245 wells produced a total of 1.3 million barrels of oil and 33.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas, according to data released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
For all of 2012, 85 wells produced 635,876 barrels of oil and 12.8 billion cubic feet of gas.
Industry experts attribute the increase to a growth in active wells.
The highest producing oil well was a Gulfport Energy well in Harrison County, known as “Boy Scout,” which produced 41,617 barrels in 70 days.
The law, which took effective Sept. 29, requires operators of horizontal oil and gas wells to submit production data to the state 45 days after the end of the quarter.
The increased reporting is intended to provide more accurate and timely information regarding Ohio’s oil and gas industry, ODNR officials say.