Ohio Jumps to 11th Largest U.S. Oil Producer 

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) recently published 2023 first quarter oil and natural gas production totals showing that oil production surpassed 6.5 million barrels. This is up 65.6 percent over the first quarter of 2022 and nearly 12 percent higher than fourth quarter 2022. Due to its increased production, Ohio now ranks 11th in the nation for oil production and remains the largest oil producer in the Appalachian Basin. 

Overall, in the first quarter of 2023 Ohio produced almost 700,000 more barrels of oil than in the fourth quarter of 2022, produced almost 2.6 million more barrels than in the first quarter of 2022, and added 59 new wells. 

Natural gas production was also on the rise with 551 billion cubic feet of natural gas produced in the first quarter, which marked the greatest production in a single quarter since 2021. According to the most recent data, Ohio is the sixth largest producer of natural gas in the nation. 

  Q1 2022  Q4 2022  Q1 2023  Percent Change
Q1 2022 – 2023 
Percent Change
Q4 2022 – Q1 2023 
 Barrels (Bbl) of Oil  3,954,175  5,855,323  6,549,638  65.64%  11.86% 
 Thousand Cubic Feet
(MFC) of Natural Gas 
542,147,299  539,681,875  551,830,848  1.79%  2.25% 

 Out of the top twenty oil producing wells in the first quarter, nineteen were located in either Guernsey or Carroll counties. Each of those top twenty oil producing wells were operated by either Ascent Resources or Encino Acquisition Partners (EAP Ohio). EAP alone produced over 3.5 million barrels of oil which was nearly 54 percent of all statewide oil production. 

Jackie Stewart, Director of EAP’s external affairs celebrated the successful quarter and stated: 

“Encino remains optimistic about the exciting and emerging oil play in Ohio.” 

“We continue to be cautiously optimistic about the northern region of the Utica and look forward to exploring new opportunities to grow oil and natural gas production in the state.” 

Overall, 2.5 million barrels, or 39 percent of Ohio’s total oil production from this quarter, came from Carroll County. Guernsey County accounted for 2.2 million barrels or about 35 percent of Ohio’s total quarterly oil production. Together, the two top producing counties accounted for nearly three quarters of oil production in Ohio. 

Notably, Columbiana County, which has historically focused on natural gas production, extracted 24,000 barrels of oil in 2021 and 20,710 barrels in 2022. However, in just the first quarter of 2023, the county produced an incredible 233,000 barrels of oil, representing a 3,422 percent increase from the first quarter of 2022. 

Company  County  Township  Oil Production (Bbls) 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  GUERNSEY  RICHLAND  123,946 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  GUERNSEY  WASHINGTON  118,809 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  GUERNSEY  WASHINGTON  116,582 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  GUERNSEY  WASHINGTON  109,298 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  GUERNSEY  RICHLAND  102,342 
EAP OHIO LLC  CARROLL  MONROE  100,696 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  GUERNSEY  WILLS  98,649 
EAP OHIO LLC  CARROLL  MONROE  95,811 
EAP OHIO LLC  CARROLL  MONROE  94,417 
EAP OHIO LLC  CARROLL  MONROE  87,839 

With regard to natural gas production, the two largest producing counties were Jefferson County, with 28 percent of statewide production, and Belmont County with nearly 26 percent. 

Company  County  Township  Gas (Mcf) 
GULFPORT APPALACHIA LLC  JEFFERSON  WARREN  3,666,972 
GULFPORT APPALACHIA LLC  JEFFERSON  WARREN  3,626,116 
GULFPORT APPALACHIA LLC  JEFFERSON  WARREN  3,619,029 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  JEFFERSON  WELLS  3,400,334 
GULFPORT APPALACHIA LLC  JEFFERSON  WARREN  3,107,533 
GULFPORT APPALACHIA LLC  JEFFERSON  WARREN  3,103,910 
GULFPORT APPALACHIA LLC  JEFFERSON  WARREN  3,061,276 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  BELMONT  WHEELING  2,956,470 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  BELMONT  WHEELING  2,947,708 
ASCENT RESOURCES UTICA LLC  BELMONT  WHEELING  2,935,901 

Bottom Line: Oil and natural gas production are both on the rise in Ohio as ODNR data show growth across the board with some major expansions in oil production such as in Columbiana County. By creating jobs and lowering energy prices in the Buckeye State, this growth continues to ensure critical energy security as the backbone of Ohio’s economy.  

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