Ohio is about to learn a few things folks in other oil- and gas-producing states have known for some time, say industry experts — that the growth of the energy business seldom takes a straight path, and the company that leases the land isn’t necessarily the one that will drill it for resources.
But those factors don’t mean the industry won’t grow here, say those in it and observing it, because the gas and oil that is the real reason for all the activity isn’t going anywhere. The present turmoil even could give some landowners leverage as they seek to change the terms of their leases, say those familiar with such transactions in Ohio. It could give the industry time to get organized, too.
Ohio’s energy boom likely won’t go bust just because of the recent tribulations of Chesapeake Energy Corp., which to this point has been the biggest force in the state’s Utica shale region, where hordes of natural gas and oil are thought to reside. Still, Chesapeake’s problems may be taking a bit of steam off the red-hot business.
“It seems like things have slowed a little, and I attribute some of that (to) what’s happening with Chesapeake,” said Amy Rutledge, head of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce in Carrollton, the current epicenter of shale gas drilling in Ohio. Read more.
