According to quarterly production data released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, oil production in the state from Utica shale wells dipped since the fourth quarter of 2015, reports the Akron Beacon Journal:
The oil data is new evidence of the continuing industry downturn from low commodity prices hitting Ohio. That downturn has forced some drilling companies into bankruptcy and dramatically slowed shale drilling across the United States.
Until now, oil and natural gas production in Ohio had been growing because of heavy Utica drilling in recent years.
Oil production dipped 12.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2015, according to first-quarter 2016 production from 1,302 horizontal Utica wells.
But it’s a different story for natural gas production:
Natural gas production from Ohio’s Utica Shale in the first quarter grew by 8.7 percent from fourth quarter 2015.
It increased from nearly 303 billion cubic feet per day in fourth quarter 2015 to 329.5 billion cubic feet in first quarter 2016.
Natural gas production grew by 80 percent from first quarter 2015 to first quarter 2016, the state said.
You can check out the quarterly production data here.