New Results Show Potential for Utica Shale in Athens County
From The Athens News:
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The report lists all the underground formations into which the drilling penetrated, and what the result was in each case. The Berea sandstone, which the drillers hit at around 1,450 feet below the surface, had a "large gas show," the report says. The Marcellus shale, which they hit around 3,250 feet down, had a "gas show."
At nearly 5,000 feet they contacted the Medina sandstone, which had an "oil show." After they got to the Utica at more than 5,800 feet down, the report states, the contents of the formation "killed soap" at something over 6,000 feet below the surface.
Wolfe explained that sometimes drillers will inject a soap solution into an underground rock formation; in this case, the oil in the Utica-Pt. Pleasant shale "killed" or neutralized the soap, and the drillers decided not to try to use that shale bed for production.
Read the entire article by clicking here.So what Hayes and Wolfe are left with is a more or less traditional vertical well, of a type that's long been common in east and central Ohio. They do believe, however, that the promising data they collected while drilling into the Utica, and which they have turned in to the state Division of Geological Survey, may end up shifting the official view on how rich the shale bed is in the Athens County area.
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