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A company that heralds itself as the most active driller of natural gas wells in the U.S. is finally coming to town. All signs indicate they will drill at least one well in Oregon Township.
Chesapeake Appalachia, a West Virginia subsidiary of the natural gas development giant Chesapeake Energy, filed a permit application last week for permission to drill a natural gas well on a Oregon Township property located near Fox Hill Road, according to state and county records obtained by the Wayne Independent.
It is the only drilling permit request on file in Wayne County.
If approved, it could be the second well drilled in Wayne County (Clinton Township), and the first for Chesapeake.
Wayne County is an energy hotspot, sitting miles above the geologic formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which has loads of natural gas trapped inside it in an area covering northern Appalachia.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the regulatory body charged with monitoring the industry, began reviewing the Oregon permit on January 13, and a decision whether to approve it should be finished by late March.
DEP spokesperson Mark Carmon said the agency has recently expedited the permit review process, creating a 45-day timetable to approve or deny.
The agency can “stop the clock” if an application lacks information or sufficient explanation.
“It’s a system to make sure we are able to process the application in a timely manner,” said Carmon. “Very few (applications) are perfect.”
An attempt to contact the property owner was not successful by press time.
Scott Rotruck, vice president of corporate development for Chesapeake Energy and a media liaison for the Marcellus area, also could not return a call seeking comment about the company’s plans in Wayne County this year.
A company representative said they will provide information specific to Wayne County on Monday.
Chesapeake has signed at least 1,500 land leases here - mostly last year, but some continue to trickle in this year - giving the company the right to explore and possibly drill for natural gas on private properties, according to a Wayne Independent review of county records.
Other natural gas firms have smaller lease holds here, including Exco-North Coast Energy, of Ohio, and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., of Texas.
The Oregon permit, however, is a tangible sign of actual movement into Wayne County by the industry, besides signing leases, according to DEP records.
Chesapeake has an extensive number of drilling permits accepted, or pending, in Bradford, Susquehanna, and Wyoming Counties.
The company “is planning to significantly increase its Marcellus ... drilling activity ... in 2009,” according to its website.
A company that heralds itself as the most active driller of natural gas wells in the U.S. is finally coming to town. All signs indicate they will drill at least one well in Oregon Township.
Chesapeake Appalachia, a West Virginia subsidiary of the natural gas development giant Chesapeake Energy, filed a permit application last week for permission to drill a natural gas well on a Oregon Township property located near Fox Hill Road, according to state and county records obtained by the Wayne Independent.
It is the only drilling permit request on file in Wayne County.
If approved, it could be the second well drilled in Wayne County (Clinton Township), and the first for Chesapeake.
Wayne County is an energy hotspot, sitting miles above the geologic formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which has loads of natural gas trapped inside it in an area covering northern Appalachia.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the regulatory body charged with monitoring the industry, began reviewing the Oregon permit on January 13, and a decision whether to approve it should be finished by late March.
DEP spokesperson Mark Carmon said the agency has recently expedited the permit review process, creating a 45-day timetable to approve or deny.
The agency can “stop the clock” if an application lacks information or sufficient explanation.
“It’s a system to make sure we are able to process the application in a timely manner,” said Carmon. “Very few (applications) are perfect.”
An attempt to contact the property owner was not successful by press time.
Scott Rotruck, vice president of corporate development for Chesapeake Energy and a media liaison for the Marcellus area, also could not return a call seeking comment about the company’s plans in Wayne County this year.
A company representative said they will provide information specific to Wayne County on Monday.
Chesapeake has signed at least 1,500 land leases here - mostly last year, but some continue to trickle in this year - giving the company the right to explore and possibly drill for natural gas on private properties, according to a Wayne Independent review of county records.
Other natural gas firms have smaller lease holds here, including Exco-North Coast Energy, of Ohio, and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., of Texas.
The Oregon permit, however, is a tangible sign of actual movement into Wayne County by the industry, besides signing leases, according to DEP records.
Chesapeake has an extensive number of drilling permits accepted, or pending, in Bradford, Susquehanna, and Wyoming Counties.
The company “is planning to significantly increase its Marcellus ... drilling activity ... in 2009,” according to its website.
Partnership
Chesapeake Appalachia has a partner in Wayne County - StatoilHydro, a Norwegian-based energy behemoth.
County records show that 590 Chesapeake land leases here were taken over this month by StatoilHydro’s U.S. subsidiary, a significant player in oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.
The county deeds office has recorded these transfers as recent as Friday.
The lease transfer activity is linked to an agreement between the companies.
StatoilHydro, which is the second largest natural gas supplier to Europe, entered a joint venture with Chesapeake Energy in November.
As part of the deal announced then, Chesapeake would relinquish 32 percent of its leases - 600,000 acres - in the Marcellus Shale area to StatoilHydro for $3.3 billion.
Chesapeake will retain ownership on its remaining 1.2 million acres.
The companies will also enter a strategic alliance to explore natural gas deposits worldwide.
In Marcellus, the companies could develop between 13,500 and 17,000 horizontal wells during the next 20 years, covering more than 32,000 leases in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio.
