Washington (Platts)--2Jan2014/216 pm EST/1916 GMT

Drillers in Ohio produced more than 10 times as much natural gas from horizontal shale wells in the third quarter of 2013 than they did in all of 2012, figures released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources showed.

Ohio's 245 horizontal Utica Shale wells produced 33.3 Bcf of gas in the third quarter, or 365,900 Mcf/d, the DNR said Tuesday. In all of 2012, the agency said, 63 wells produced about 12.8 Bcf, or 35,000 Mcf/d, from shale formations.

The state did not separate gas from liquids production because state law doesn't require the department to do so, spokesman Mark Bruce said Thursday.

Analysts Tim Rezvan and Truman Hobbs with Sterne Agee noted all the data was "reported on a two-stream basis (oil and gas/NGL), which makes it somewhat difficult to interpret given the lack of infrastructure capacity in the play." But the data shows that "the gassier areas of Monroe, Belmont and Noble counties look to be the most prolific."

Chesapeake Energy drilled 163 of the 245 wells, the analysts said, noting that most of the company's results were in Carroll County, where Chesapeake is focusing drilling within its joint venture with Total.

Rezvan and Hobbs said Gulfport Energy and Antero Resources were "consistently drilling the strongest wells to date in the play."

Topeka Capital Markets said the most prolific portions of the Utica Shale "are proving to be in the gassier areas." The firm said Belmont County, where Gulfport is actively leasing, "is emerging as a sweet spot."

Topeka Capital also said Magnum Hunter Resources has "the best way to play the increasing activity and [is] improving results from the Utica/Point Pleasant shale in Ohio."

Magnum Hunter's position in Ohio and Northern West Virginia, prospective to dry gas Utica, "is situated adjacent to Antero Resources, but trading at about a third of the acreage valuation," the firm said.

--Rodney White, rodney_white@platts.com --Edited by Annie Siebert, ann.siebert@platts.com

© 2014 Platts, The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.  To subscribe or visit go to:  http://www.platts.com

http://www.platts.com/latest-news/natural-gas/washington/ohio-gas-production-from-shale-wells-surges-in-21020382