Deep Dive Into Utica Shale Production During Quarter Four of 2015

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The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has now released the production data from the Utica shale for the fourth quarter of 2015. As always, we are going to give you a look at how the numbers compare to past quarters, past years, and how they break down among the various drillers who are active in Ohio and the counties where they are drilling. We also have the top 10 oil and gas wells detailed below. Despite the slowdown brought on by low commodity prices, production in the Utica shale in 2015 towers over past years, and the increases continued from the third quarter into the fourth.

First up, let's take a look at how the quarterly data compares from the 1st quarter of 2014 through the final quarter of 2015:


QUARTER# OF WELLS/# WITH DATAOILGASDAYSOIL/DAYOIL/WELLGAS/DAYGAS/WELL
2014-1 476/4181,950,97967,333,94528,019704,6672,403161,086
2014-2562/5042,467,28388,673,74137,922654,8952,338175,940
2014-3717/6743,013,667132,017,38650,858594,4712,596195,871
2014-4828/7793,558,836164,815,00862,527574,5682,636211,573
2015-1926/8774,432,304183,585,25569,745635,0192,632209,333
2015-21020/9785,594,633221,860,16980,724695,7042,748226,851
2015-31134/10875,709,858245,747,68684,283685,2422,916226,079
2015-41265/12306,249,116302,505,428102,378615,0812,955245,939

So oil production reached its peak in the second quarter of 2015, but by the fourth quarter had fallen back to the levels seen in quarter one.  The barrels per day during quarter four were the lowest of any quarter last year.  Gas numbers, though, continued to climb, reaching new peaks in total gas produced as well as daily and per well production rates.

Next we have a look at how the full year's production in 2015 compares to all of the production in 2011 to 2014:


YEAROILGAS
201146,3262,561,524
2012635,87412,831,292
20133,677,734100,119,054
201410,990,765452,840,080
201521,985,911953,887,763
TOTALS37,336,6101,522,239,713

So shale oil and gas production in 2015 was higher than in the previous four years combined.  Nearly 59% of the oil produced from the Utica shale was produced in 2015, while nearly 63% of the natural gas produced over the past five years was produced last year.  (On a side note, I'm aware that the numbers above for 2015 production are different than the ones posted in the ODNR press release announcing the fourth quarter data. Our numbers are taken from the latest update to all of the quarterly production figures from last year as of 3/14/16, and apparently some of the figures have been updated since the press release.)

We will take a closer look at the yearly figures in a separate future post.

Next up, here are the top 10 oil-producing wells from quarter four:


OPERATORCOUNTYWELL NAME/NO.OILOIL/DAY
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCGUERNSEYRED HILL FARM MDS GR 3H59502647
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCGUERNSEYRED HILL FARM MDS GR 1H57095621
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCGUERNSEYRED HILL FARM MDS GR 5H54366591
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCHARRISONRH BSA S NTG HR 8H45951499
CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION LLCCARROLLSAUERS 8-14-6 8H45917499
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCHARRISONRH BSA N NTG HR 3H45914499
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCHARRISONRH BSA S NTG HR 6H45278492
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCHARRISONRH BSA N NTG HR 9H45133491
CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION LLCCARROLLSAUERS 8-14-6 6H43462472
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCHARRISONRH BSA N NTG HR 1H43088468

Guernsey County featured 9 of the top 10 oil wells in the first quarter of 2015,  8 of the top 10 in the second quarter, 6 of the top 10 in the third quarter, and now has just 3 of the top 10 oil wells in the fourth quarter.  Meanwhile, Harrison County features 5 of the top 10 oil producers in the fourth quarter after having only 1 well in the top 10 in the previous quarter.

 Next, here are the top 10 gas-producing wells from the fourth quarter of 2015:

OPERATORCOUNTYWELL NAME/NO.GASGAS/DAY
RICE DRILLING D LLCBELMONTMOHAWK WARRIOR 12H1,626,593 17,680
RICE DRILLING D LLCBELMONTMOHAWK WARRIOR 8H1,621,945 17,630
RICE DRILLING D LLCBELMONTMOHAWK WARRIOR 10H1,586,707 17,247
RICE DRILLING D LLCBELMONTKRAZY TRAIN 4H1,423,618 15,474
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCBELMONTSMITH A 1H-121,423,045 15,468
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLCBELMONTEUREKA SMT BL 6H-A1,417,273 15,405
RICE DRILLING D LLCBELMONTRAZIN KANE 4H1,402,107 15,240
RICE DRILLING D LLCBELMONTRAZIN KANE 2H1,396,879 15,184
RICE DRILLING D LLCBELMONTRAZIN KANE 6H1,363,398 14,820
RICE DRILLING D LLCBELMONTKRAZY TRAIN 2H1,329,678 14,453

Rice Drilling's Belmont County wells continue to be the most impressive gas producers, while Ascent Resources sees the same two wells find their way into the top 10 as they did in the third quarter.  Belmont County is clearly the sweet spot for gas production.

Now take a look at the production by county in the fourth quarter, along with charts that will show the comparison in production rates between each quarter of last year:


COUNTY# OF WELLS TOTAL# OF WELLS PRODUCINGOILGASBRINEDAYSOIL/WELLOIL/DAYGAS/WELLGAS/DAY
Belmont13413392,67985,897,197772,00410,9256978645,8447,862
Carroll4154131,458,53059,423,080750,87735,8253,53141143,8821,659
Columbiana666036,71311,690,817103,2105,1796127194,8472,257
Coshocton1132813,90384092328413,903151
Guernsey1071051,528,91813,162,510271,4979,15314,561167125,3571,438
Harrison2392382,423,64244,855,016762,14519,79710,183122188,4672,266
Jefferson24171992,609,11727,793874120153,4782,985
Mahoning13122,173680,80022,965636181356,7331,070
Monroe12611936,93149,383,145794,8828,7133104414,9845,668
Morgan228,03587,7803,3811844,0184443,890477
Muskingum1156612,99558192566612,995141
Noble111111628,10033,919,309476,3859,7625,65964305,5793,475
Portage4127102217135
Stark221,79637,9944541838981018,997208
Trumbull442,11299,6891,301262528824,922381
Tuscarawas7522,262109,06088482384,4529421,812458
Washington966,130522,94525,6334611,0221587,1581134



And finally, breaking down the data by operator:


OPERATORTOTAL # OF WELLS# OF PRODUCING WELLSOILGASDAYSOIL/WELLOIL/DAYGAS/WELLGAS/DAY
Antero Resources Corporation120115526,44743,180,58210,4054,57851375,4834,150
Artex Oil Company664,368144,047552728824,008261
Ascent Resources Utica LLC83791,270,39420,940,0124,85416,081262265,0634,314
Atlas Noble LLC121216,0772,154,95311041,34015179,5791952
Carrizo (Utica) LLC4359,613224,88524719,87124174,962911
Chesapeake Appalachia LLC64231726014060431504315
Chesapeake Exploration LLC5885762,798,46588,850,75949,8264,85856154,2551,783
Chevron Appalachia LLC4468,423304,78434717,10619776,196878
CNX Gas Company LLC3837108,2367,841,8332,5782,92542211,9413,042
Eclipse Resources I LP5454505,57913,943,9504,5259,363112258,2213,082
EM Energy Ohio LLC223,2721,138,8321821,63618569,4166,257
Enervest Operating L544,84562,7853701,2111315,696170
EQT Production Company6612,714102,3595362,1192417,060191
Gulfport Energy Corporation165165371,22366,877,61913,9332,25027405,3194,800
Halcon Operating Company Inc552,548132,533354510726,507374
Hess Ohio Developments LLC4948230,65420,427,5044,1544,80556425,5734,918
Hilcorp Energy Company101001,944,97169400194,4972,803
Mountaineer Keystone LLC200000000
NGO Development Corp.1132813,90392328413,903151
PDC Energy Inc2323174,2161,016,4322,1087,5758344,193482
Protégé Energy III LLC1131146,10493113546,1045123
R E Gas Development LLC313166,4702,919,3512,3762,1442894,1731,229
Rice Drilling D LLC1616021,180,6591472001,323,79114,389
Statoil USA Onshore Prop Inc8712,648471,4092321,8075567,3442,032
Triad Hunter LLC1289,5051,517,4665151,18819189,6832,947
XTO Energy Inc.14132,7576,895,0958732123530,3927,898





Click here to download the spreadsheet containing all fourth quarter production data.

If you'd like to view any of our breakdowns from the first three quarters of 2015, just click on the corresponding quarter here:  FIRST      SECOND      THIRD



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