Back a hundred and fifty years ago, when oil first began to be produced, no one ever heard of the Marcellus
and Utica shales that lie under the eastern third of Ohio and much of PA, WV, NY and some other states. Oil
wells were drilled to just a few hundred to a thousand feet during the country's first oil boom and the process
was haphazard with no scientific consideration for locating a potentially producing drilling site.
The first well drilled in Ohio specifically to extract oil for commercial use was
in 1859, just a few months after Col. Drake's first official U.S. producing oil
well in Titusville PA was drilled. After that, more wells began to be drilled in
parts of Ohio and neighboring states. As the country's demand for oil grew,
more oil and gas exploration companies started forming. Soon, oil derricks
and pump jacks dotted the countryside of Ohio. The oil boom had begun.
Along with the search for more oil there also came advances in oil exploration
and production that allowed oil and gas companies to get more oil out of the
ground. New techniques and methods were being developed, fueled by ever-
growing demand by the country for oil and oil-based products. Many new oil and gas fields had been
discovered in Ohio, but, over several decades, the wells began to run dry and the production of oil and gas in
Ohio plummeted. That is, until a few years ago.
As a result of the aforementioned advances in oil and gas technology, exploration companies could drill
deeper, less expensively and more safely, finding new formations that held hydrocarbons and developing
those that geologists knew existed, but engineers lacked the knowledge on how to extract those
hydrocarbons profitably and safely. That all changed with the perfection of horizontal drilling and fracturing
and the discovery of the Marcellus and Utica shale formations under the eastern half of Ohio. Exploration
companies could now access these shales, which were thought to contain massive quantities of natural gas.
And that is why they are now here in eastern Ohio.
The Marcellus shale had been of interest to geologists for some
time and it now seemed accessible and it stretched from
Canada down through West Virginia, so they began to explore in
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. As test wells were being
drilled into the Marcellus and above-expected volumes of both gas
and oil were being discovered, some oil and gas companies started
to eye the Utica Shale formation, which, according to preliminary
tests, proved to be a much greater formation than the Marcellus.
Geologists and petroleum engineers also discovered that the eastern half of Ohio lay over the Marcellus and
Utica shales that were closest to the surface, thickest, widest and with the highest concentration of oil and
gas. It was soon dubbed "The Sweet Spot" of the shale formations. And Carroll and surrounding counties
are right on top of it.
It was, according to state records, Range Resources-Appalachia, LLC who,
in 2003, drilled the first productive gas well into the Marcellus Shale in
Washington County, PA utilizing the newly developed techniques of horizontal
drilling and hydraulic fracturing of the shale. Since then, the estimates for the
amount of gas contained within the Marcellus Shale continues to climb as
more exploration results in higher than expected production.
Several of the other major oil & gas companies exploring in the Marcellus
Shale include Chesapeake Energy, Chief Oil & Gas, Fortuna Energy,
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation and Atlas Energy Resources among others.
By the end of 2010, 1386 gas wells had been drilled into the Marcellus and
more are being added weekly.
It was also in 2010 that Chesapeake Energy decided to drill beyond
the Marcellus to explore the Utica Shale formation that lay several
thousand feet further down. Not only did they discover vast amounts
of natural gas, they also found oil and wet gas. This revelation
caused great excitement among the oil and gas community and the
Utica Shale is now the target for the large exploration companies
who have the cash and expertise to develop this huge resource.
As can be seen from the illustration at left, the Utica Shale covers
a large geographic area. It is also much thicker and wider than the
Marcellus and, as such, will yield much higher quantities of oil & gas.
The Utica is also more expensive to drill into and frack as a result of it's depth, but the potential pay-off is
well worth the expense.
The depths of the Marcellus and Utica shales become shallower as the formations stretch westward. In
central Pennsylvania the base of the Utica can be as far down as 14,000 feet and then trends upward to
several thousand feet as it stretches into eastern Ohio. The distance between the two formations also
begins to shorten as the two shales rise in Ohio. With a distance between the Marcellus and Utica of around
7,000 feet in Pennsylvania, that number decreases to around 3,000 feet in Ohio, adding to the attractiveness
of the eastern Ohio corridor.
The Utica Shale varies in thickness of less than a 100 feet to 500 feet along the
formation with the deepest concentration in southwest Pennsylvania. Although
thickness of the shale is an important consideration for drilling, the organic
content of the shale is more important for the amount of recoverable gas is
available. In this regard, the Utica Shale, unlike the Marcellus, is still very much
untested. There is very little information available to the public about the amount
of potential gas lies within the Utica and how the effects of horizontal drilling and
hydraulic fracturing will have on releasing the hydrocarbons that are present.
The organic content and the surrounding formations of the Marcellus and the Utica are different and pose
different challenges in extracting the hydrocarbons. The Marcellus has been explored enough to have tested
the effects and safety of horizontal drilling and fracturing and these processes have proven to be effective
and profitable. For the Utica Shale, however, these techniques will encounter obstacles that may not be
present in the Marcellus.
It is uncertain at this point how the Marcellus and Utica shales will play
out, but we know that significant reserves of oil and gas exist under
eastern Ohio and the other states mentioned above. The question
that remains is whether horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing can
coax enough oil and gas out of these formations profitably. With all
that we have been seeing, oil and gas exploration in Ohio and
surrounding states is just beginning. The major exploration companies
are committing massive sums of money and resources to develop both
shales and, we assume, that they know what they are doing. Although there is little public information
available about the hydrocarbon potential in these shales, the oil and gas companies have information that
they do not share with the public. Their investment in the Marcellus and Utica shales would indicate that the
oil and gas companies know that significant reserves of hydrocarbons exist and they are confident that they
can extract it profitably and safely.
These are exciting times. Please check back often to read the weekly blogs on the Home page that will
cover the many aspects of oil and gas exploration and production in Ohio and surrounding areas.
OHIO OIL & GAS EXPLORATON |
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