BP to lease in Ohio Utica/Point Pleasant shale

BP North America has signed an agreement to lease 84,000 acres in Trumbull County, Ohio, 30-40 miles east of Cleveland, for future oil and gas production in the Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation.

BP said it will sign confidential agreements with individual landowners who are part of a group known as Associated Landowners of the Ohio Valley. Terms are not disclosed.

BP described the Utica/Point Pleasant as a shale at a depth of about 6,000 ft that is of similar thickness to the Marcellus shale and has the potential to deliver higher liquids rates.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates a recoverable Utica shale potential between 1.3 billion and 5.5 billion bbl of oil and 3.8 to 15.7 tcf of natural gas.

Tim Harrington, regional president of BP’s North America Gas business, said, “We are very encouraged by what we have seen of the Utica/Point Pleasant formation. Our focus in 2012 will be to better understand the geology and devise a plan to safely develop the resource.”

BP is the second largest oil and gas producer in the US with a workforce of about 23,000 people, making BP the country’s second largest oil and gas employer. The company has been the largest US oil and gas investor the past 5 years.

The company has a presence in seven leading US onshore basins and has active shale positions in the Woodford, Haynesville, Fayetteville, and Eagle Ford plays.