Ohio’s Utica Shale has seen an additional $5.7 billion in investment or a 20.4 percent increase since last spring, a Columbus law firm says in a new report.
The shale industry has invested $33.7 billion in Ohio, according to the report from Bricker & Eckler LLP, which tracks the industry.
Ohio’s shale development is growing despite low commodity prices and a natural gas glut that have hurt some drilling companies.
The biggest factors in Ohio’s Utica Shale boom are continuing development of needed infrastructure including pipelines and natural gas-processing plants, plus development of new natural gas-fired power plants that will generate electricity, said attorney Matt Warnock, partner and co-chair of Bricker & Eckler’s oil and gas industry group.
“The infrastructure continues to get built out,” he said.
Major interstate pipelines are being added and natural gas processing plants are being expanded, he said.
The report looks largely at what are called midstream and downstream development, not the actual leasing and drilling of wells, he said.
Many of those big-dollar projects in eastern Ohio are continuing, despite the economic downturn, he said.
The report lists 162 projects, of which 16 are new since last spring’s report.
Stark County’s Tiger Sand & Gravel is one of the newest local beneficiaries.
It will get $4.4 million to furnish concrete sand for the Rover Pipeline across northern Ohio.
New projects in the report include:
• A $1 billion system of gas-gathering pipelines by MarkWest Energy Partners and the Energy and Mineral Group in Belmont and Jefferson counties.
•A $640 million expansion of gas and water lines by Rice Midstream Holdings and Gulfport Energy Corp. in Belmont and Monroe counties.
•A new 15-acre retail development known as Kettler’s Ridge and a new 48-unit apartment complex, both in St. Clairsville.
•TestAmerica has opened a regional laboratory in Cambridge.
•A new charter school, the Ohio Valley Energy Technology Academy, has opened. It is part of the Buckeye Local School District in Jefferson County.
•New hotels catering to drill workers in Belmont, Harrison and Mahoning counties.
•Heinrich Enterprises is converting three wells in Washington County to inject liquid drilling wastes.
The last Bricker & Eckler report listed $28 billion in Utica Shale investments.
Utica Shale investment in Ohio grew from $12.2 billion in October 2013 to $16.8 billion in spring 2014 to $22.3 billion in fall 2014 to $28 billion last spring.
The report’s dollar total does not include projects with unknown values.
You can access the 16-page report at www.bricker.com/documents/resources/Shale_Economic_Development_Chart.pdf.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.