Historical Ohio fracking information, 1814-2015
 in Ohio |
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This page contains historical information about fracking in Ohio. For more current information about fracking in Ohio, see this article.
As of 2014, detailed information about the extent to which fracking was used in Ohio was limited. The information below describes fracking and oil and gas production in Ohio generally.
Fracking background
- See also: Fracking
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method of oil and natural gas extraction. The process involves injecting fluid into subterranean rock formation at a high pressure, creating a fracture network that allows the crude oil and natural gas inside dense rocks to flow into a wellbore and be extracted at the surface. The fluid used in this process is made up of sand and water, which comprise 95 percent of the fluid, and other chemical additives, which comprise less than 5 percent of the fluid.[1]
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), there were approximately 23,000 hydraulically fractured wells in the United States in 2000. By 2015, there were an estimated 300,000 hydraulically fractured wells. To learn more about fracking, see this article.[2][3]
History
Oil was first discovered in Ohio in 1814 in Noble County by two men drilling for salt. This event marked the first instance in the United States of discovery of crude oil from a drilled well. The first commercial oil well in Ohio went into production in 1860 in Washington County. Commercial production of natural gas began in 1885.[4]
Hydraulic fracturing was first used in Ohio in the 1950s. From 1990 to 2014, over 15,000 wells in Ohio were fracked.[5][6]
Production
The graphs and tables below detail crude oil and natural gas production in Ohio from 1981/1982 to 2013/2014.[7][8]
| Ohio crude oil production | |
|---|---|
| Year | Production in thousand barrels |
| 1981 | 13,551 |
| 1982 | 14,571 |
| 1983 | 14,971 |
| 1984 | 15,271 |
| 1985 | 14,988 |
| 1986 | 13,442 |
| 1987 | 12,153 |
| 1988 | 11,711 |
| 1989 | 10,215 |
| 1990 | 10,008 |
| 1991 | 9,156 |
| 1992 | 9,197 |
| 1993 | 8,282 |
| 1994 | 8,758 |
| 1995 | 8,258 |
| 1996 | 8,305 |
| 1997 | 8,593 |
| 1998 | 6,541 |
| 1999 | 5,970 |
| 2000 | 6,575 |
| 2001 | 6,051 |
| 2002 | 5,631 |
| 2003 | 5,658 |
| 2004 | 5,783 |
| 2005 | 5,658 |
| 2006 | 5,439 |
| 2007 | 5,155 |
| 2008 | 5,113 |
| 2009 | 4,877 |
| 2010 | 4,756 |
| 2011 | 4,853 |
| 2012 | 5,121 |
| 2013 | 11,611 |
| 2014 | 18,996 |
| Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Crude Oil Production" | |
| Ohio natural gas production | |
|---|---|
| Year | Production in thousand cubic feet (MCF) |
| 1982 | 138,368 |
| 1983 | 151,271 |
| 1984 | 186,439 |
| 1985 | 182,178 |
| 1986 | 182,004 |
| 1987 | 166,543 |
| 1988 | 166,646 |
| 1989 | 159,684 |
| 1990 | 154,561 |
| 1991 | 147,602 |
| 1992 | 144,743 |
| 1993 | 137,190 |
| 1994 | 132,047 |
| 1995 | 126,242 |
| 1996 | 119,166 |
| 1997 | 116,163 |
| 1998 | 115,005 |
| 1999 | 109,431 |
| 2000 | 105,047 |
| 2001 | 100,021 |
| 2002 | 103,086 |
| 2003 | 93,573 |
| 2004 | 90,418 |
| 2005 | 83,494 |
| 2006 | 86,310 |
| 2007 | 88,086 |
| 2008 | 84,858 |
| 2009 | 88,824 |
| 2010 | 78,122 |
| 2011 | 78,858 |
| 2012 | 84,327 |
| 2013 | 184,065 |
| Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production" | |
Laws and regulations
2015
In February 2015, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that local zoning laws could not be used to prohibit fracking or otherwise "circumvent the state's authority over oil and gas drilling." The lawsuit was brought by the city of Munroe Falls after Beck Energy Corp. was granted a permit by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to drill for oil in a traditional oil well in 2011. The city sued, arguing that the permit violated local zoning ordinances.[9]
The court ruled 4-3 on the matter, with three written dissents. The court's majority opinion, written by Judith French, argued that home-rule authority does not mean that oil and gas companies should have to seek licenses at both the state and local levels. Further, drilling restrictions "constituted an exercise of police power," a power not provided to Munroe Falls under home-rule authority. Two dissenting justices, Paul Pfeifer and Judith Lanzinger, argued that state and local rules could coexist.[9][10]
- SB 165 (2010): According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resources (DOGR), the bill "enhanced permitting authority in urban areas, strengthened funding for operations and orphan well plugging, added additional notification requirements by the industry and expanded enforcement provisions." The bill also increased the amount each oil and gas operator needed in insurance from $300,000 to $1 million in non-urban areas and $3 million in urban areas (areas with populations exceeding 5,000 people). The fees associated with underground injection wells were also increased.[11]
- SB 315 (2012): According to DOGR, SB 315 "establishes one of the nation’s toughest regulatory frameworks for overseeing the new technologies that allow for the exploration of natural gas in deep shale rock formations." This bill created chemical disclosure requirements (with trade secret allowances), required operators to take water samples before drilling a well, increased the daily fine rate to $20,000 for those violating the law, and allowed for unannounced inspections of injections wells.[12]
Fracking in the 50 states
Click on a state below to read more about energy in that state.
See also
External links
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Ohio Profile"
- Frac Focus, "National Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Registry"
Footnotes
- ↑ Frack Wire, “What is Fracking,” accessed January 28, 2014
- ↑ University of Oklahoma, "Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Hydraulic fracturing accounts for about half of current U.S. crude oil production," March 15, 2016
- ↑ Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program, "History," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ Energy Tomorrow, "Energy Tomorrow Blog: Video: Fracking Has Rich History, Future in Ohio," May 23, 2014
- ↑ Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources, "The Facts About Hydraulic Fracturing," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Crude Oil Production," June 30, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production," July 30, 2015
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mansfield News Journal, "Court upholds Ohio's power to regulate drilling," February 17, 2015
- ↑ Cleveland.com "Ohio Supreme Court rules Monroe Falls regulations on oil and gas drilling are improper," February 18, 2015
- ↑ Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources, "SB 165," accessed July 16, 2015
- ↑ Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources, "SB 135 Information," accessed July 16, 2015
