Shale Boom Coming to Belmont County?

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As of the latest data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Belmont County has 11 permits issued, with 6 wells drilled.  This pales in comparison to the 161 permits and 73 wells drilled in Carroll County, the biggest hotbed for Utica shale activity to this point.  But things look poised to pick up in Belmont.

From The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register:
More than $1 million already has been realized this year in the Belmont County Recorder's office from the big oil and gas companies seeking to obtain drilling leases from property owners to gain access to the untapped energy supplies contained in the Marcellus and Utica shale deposits.
Never in Belmont County's 200-plus years of existence has there been such feverish leasing activity in the office. It has been literally overrun by abstractors each and every day since the beginning of the year.
"It never stops. We're busy every minute of the day" exclaimed Recorder Mary Catherine Nixon, whose office staff of six full time workers and one part-time employee has been busy as beavers handling the influx of abstractors searching the records to finalize leases.
"We exceeded $100,000 income in each of the first seven months of this year," Nixon declared. In August and September the total lease revenue fell just below that mark but then bounced back in October with another $100,000-plus record.
"So far this month we have taken in over $720,000 and there's still almost two weeks to go." However, the revenue already received for November pushed the total for the year over the $1 million mark.
Read the rest of the article here.

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