Utica Needs ‘Nodding Donkeys’ to Unlock Two Yemens of Oil
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Energy prospectors in Ohio’s Utica Shale will need to install pump jacks or other specialized well equipment to coax crude to the surface, increasing costs to harvest an estimated 5.5 billion barrels of oil.
In the oil-soaked section of the Utica formation beneath central Ohio, underground pressure is insufficient to force crude to the surface in commercial quantities, said Jim Pritt, a member of the Utica drilling team for EnerVest Ltd., the largest oil and gas producer in the state. Drillers haven’t encountered similar low-pressure problems on the eastern side of the state, where output is mostly natural gas and gas liquids such as propane, he said.