Activity in Ohio’s Utica Shale play has been slowly increasing in 2017 as long-term infrastructure projects, like pipelines and processing plants, have come online.
Facilities to process production from Utica shale wells, and pipes to move it to customers, have been under construction for years.
Shawn Bennett, of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, says those are now mostly in place or will be soon. And he says that has a two-fold value.
“The infrastructure is imperative to the success of United States manufacturing,” Bennett says. “And in the meantime, we focus on attracting more manufacturing to the Appalachian basin, meaning Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania because, again, it’s about building demand.”
In addition to pipeline project completions, drilling permit inquiries and applications are generally trending up in the region.
Hurricane Harvey could also have an effect. It showed the vulnerability of coastal energy infrastructure, and investor interest may be spurred in energy facilities in the Appalachian basin and other inland areas.
