Columbus Business First is reporting that more than 1,000 drilling permits have been issued in the Utica Shale in Ohio. "Through Dec. 7, ODNR had issued 1,015 permits for horizontal wells in the Utica since December 2009. Of that total, 551 were approved this year, surpassing the 525 permits for the year the agency projected back in May. It issued 376 in 2012. *** 'In general, 1,000 permits is a milestone,' said Shawn Bennett, a director with Energy in Depth Ohio, an oil and gas education and advocacy group. 'It shows the resource is here and companies are allocating the investments to develop it.'."