A total of 205 horizontal wells were drilled in Ohio’s Utica Shale through Jan. 5, and seven more were drilled in the state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale , according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

Forty-seven of the Utica wells and five of the Marcellus wells are producing, according to ODNR.

ODNR also reported that 507 horizontal drilling permits have been issued: 487 in the Utica/Point Pleasant and 20 more in the Marcellus. That’s up from the 431 permits that had been issued through October (see Shale Daily, Nov. 1, 2012). The agency has issued eight drilling permits, all of them for the Utica Shale — four to Gulfport Energy Corp. and one each to Hess Ohio Developments LLC, PDC Energy Inc., Chesapeake Exploration LLC and CNX Gas Co. LLC — since the first of the year.

Chesapeake continues to lead the field with permits issued in Ohio’s Utica, receiving 320 to date. Gulfport is second with 25 permits, followed by CNX (19), HG Energy LLC and EnerVest Operating LLC (16 each), Hess Ohio (14), Devon Energy Production Co. (13), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (12), Antero Res Appalachian Corp. (11), RE Gas Development LLC (eight), Mountaineer Keystone LLC (seven), Atlas Noble LLC (five), XTO Energy Inc. and PDC Energy (four each) and Sierra Resources LLC (three). Carrizo (Utica) LLC and Chevron Appalachia LLC each had two, and EQT Production Co., Eclipse Resources LP, Halcon Operating Co. Inc., Hall Drilling LLC, Hilcorp Energy Co. and SWEPI LP, a Shell Oil Co. affiliate, each had one.

Carroll County leads in permitting with 177, followed by Harrison County (63), Columbiana County (61), Jefferson County (32), Guernsey County (24), Noble County (23), Monroe County (22), Mahoning County (15), Portage County (14), Stark County (13), Belmont and Tuscarawas counties (12 each), Coshocton County (five), Holmes County and Muskingum counties (three each), Knox and Trumbull counties (two each), and Ashland, Geauga, Medina and Wayne counties (one each).

Last month, ODNR said Ohio wells produced about 73.3 Bcf of natural gas and 4.9 million bbl of oil in 2011 (see Shale Daily, Dec. 7, 2012).