ohio

Calling a grassroots effort to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within the city of Youngstown, OH, for the third time in 18 months a "jobs killer" affecting the whole region, officials on Thursday implored the public to again vote against the measure when they head to the polls next month.

With the Utica Shale making a reputation for itself in Ohio after a series of eye-opening well results, and with technology pushing drilling efficiencies to new heights, the formation is poised to become the next horizon of development in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

A controversy involving the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and Republican Gov. John Kasich’s administration that has been unfolding for much of the last month has shed new light on oil and gas development in the state and its role in the gubernatorial campaign.

Pipeline executives told the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) on Wednesday that a loss of pressure at two regulator stations caused nearly 3,600 customers to temporarily lose natural gas service during two record cold spells brought on by the polar vortex last month.

Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives have revised an oil and natural gas severance tax proposal and are calling for a slightly higher rate, which many believe may have a better chance of passing the Democratic-controlled state senate.

Gulfport Energy Corp. continues to bolster its acreage position in the Utica Shale of southeast Ohio, inking a deal last week that will find it paying $478,500 in signing bonuses and 20% of production royalties to a small village along the Ohio River.

GreenHunter Water LLC’s $1.7 million water treatment, recycling and condensate handling logistics terminal in Wheeling, WV, remains in limbo nearly one year after the company announced the project.

Spectra Energy Partners’ Texas Eastern Transmission LP is seeking FERC authorization for a project to create 550,000 Dth/d of takeaway capacity out of the Marcellus and Utica shales for delivery at points along its Gulf Coast system.

A quartet of Marcellus and Utica shale producers has signed up for all of the capacity — 550,000 Dth/d — on what would be a new pipeline route out of Ohio to the Gulf Coast.