“There is significant interest from firms out of state, Chesapeake being the biggest example,” said Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. “They’re investing an astonishing amount of money to acquire lease rights before you ever drill a well. That sends signals they believe the potential is there.”
But, Stewart said, nothing has been proven and he remains cautious.
Gov. John Kasich is enthusiastic about the state’s potential, appointing former oil and gas industry executive, David Mustine, to head the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Legislation is pending to allow drilling on state lands including parks, alarming environmental and conservation groups.
West Bay Exploration, the Michigan drilling firm searching for hidden oil deposits around Dayton, will return here some- time this spring to resume testing.
Pat Gibson, a vice president with the company based in Traverse Bay, said last week that no new deposits have been detected here, but testing in 2010 indicated some areas worth checking again. The seismic testing would resume within a month or two, but Gibson declined to be specific about where citing proprietary information. Permits will have to be obtained from the counties where searches are conducted along local roadways.
In October, workers sent sound waves into the ground to gather underground images along public right-of-ways in Montgomery and Preble counties and other locations in Miami, Greene and Clark counties to see whether further examinations, and ultimately drilling, would be worthwhile.
The company would at some point have to obtain a state drilling permit. Actual drilling for oil could occur by year’s end, Gibson said.
The company’s work in the vicinity of Yellow Springs in Greene County set off a flurry of concern by residents worried that it might lead to the use of “fracking” technology to extract natural gas. The method, recently banned in the cities of Pittsburgh and Buffalo, is blamed for tainting drinking water and burdening sewer systems with toxins.
Gibson said his company is looking for oil, not natural gas shale deposits, and would not use fracking to extract, even if drilling were deemed worthwhile. Fracking techniques are expected to be used in eastern Ohio.
The notion of finding oil in southwestern Ohio seems far-fetched given a history here of only very minor success within the past 100 years, but Gibson said new technology is better able to locate deposits. West Bay surprised Southeastern Michigan residents in 2008 when it discovered drillable oil in the vicinity of Jackson. West Bay has drilled 28 successful wells in Jackson County and is producing 3,000 barrels daily, Gibson said, making it a worthwhile venture.
Larry Wickstrom, State Geologist, said Ohio gas and oil production has been on a steady decline since 1984 when 15 million barrels of oil and 188 billion cubic feet of natural gas were obtained. He said the state could at least hit that level again with new drilling.
Several dozen wells could be drilled by year’s end, he said. Interest is so high that Chesapeake, Wickstrom said, is reported to have 120 leasing agents working Ohio. More than 1,200 leases have been signed in Stark and Portage counties each, he said.
Although economic development and jobs would likely accompany any drilling success, Stewart of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association is steeling himself for potential protests should drilling become widespread. “The social push-back will be equally ferocious because people are opposed to development and techniques that could make this work,” Stewart said.
Last week, the Buckeye Forest Council and 50 other environmental groups said ODNR should withhold approval of well permits involving high volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing, exploration, or extraction “until such time as these drilling practices are demonstrated to be safe for the environment and human health and are properly and effectively regulated.”
Wickstrom said he’s convinced that safeguards that will be used in the extraction process will not pose any risks to Ohio drinking water.
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