1. Utica Shale – Eastern Ohio
The Ordovician-aged Utica Shale is distributed across
several US states as well as Quebec, Canada and is
found approximately 2,000+ ft below the Marcellus
Shale. The shale is generally shallower to the West
and deepens to the East. As more information
becomes available, the size and extent of the Utica
Shale resource will become more evident. In addition
to the Utica Shale, other formations such as the
Devonian shale, Marcellus shale, Clinton sandstone,
Medina Sandstone, Trenton Limestone, Black River,
Beekmantown dolomite and Rose Run all are
potential targets below the Second Berea.
With the recent technological advances in drilling
techniques, numerous operators have started looking
at the Utica as the next oil frontier with several
operators comparing its potential to the Eagle Ford
Shale in Texas and the Bakken Shale in Williston
Basin of North Dakota and Montana. While it is still
very early in the play operators like Chesapeake
Energy, Antero, Magnum Hunter, Gulfport Energy, EV
Partners, Anadarko, Petroleum Development Corp
and Devon (to name a few) have been acquiring
acreage in Ohio.
In October 2012, the USGS estimated the Utica shale to have 38 Tcf of recoverable
natural gas, 940 MMbbl of oil and 208 MMbbls of associated liquids.
Source USGS - http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1194/
Recent results – Utica Shale wells
Source - http://magnumhunterresources.com/corporate_presentations.html

2. Characteristics of the Utica Shale

The Utica Shale extends approximately
170,000 square miles throughout the
Appalachia Basin in the United States and
Canada

Ordovician-aged organic rich black
shale with inter bedded limestone
with target intervals ~150 feet thick
at depths between 7,500 feet and
9,500 feet

Similar to the Eagle Ford Shale with
three distinct windows: oil, wet
gas/condensate, and dry gas with
the majority of the activity focused
on the wet gas and condensate
window
The “Sweet Spot” for liquids-rich gas occurs in eastern
Ohio along a narrow band which generally follows
geologic structure
Optimum thermal history
Depth,
pressure
and
hydrocarbon
composition result in excellent recoveries
 Total Organic Carbon (“TOC”) is a measure
of organic content and is indicative of the
quantity of kerogen in the rock, which is the
source material for oil and gas
TOC is derived from core analysis;
however, it can also be inferred from open
hole log resistivity measurements where
sufficient data exists for a good correlation
There is a general correlation between
higher gross interval thickness and larger
TOC values
East of the Ohio River, the
Utica/Point Pleasant is sufficiently deep for
the formations to produce dry gas; these
areas of high TOC also correspond to high Ro
values