**EOG Resources Pours More Capital into Ohio’s Utica Shale Operation**
In recent statements, EOG Resources Inc., a leading oil and gas player, revealed plans to increase its spending in the Ohio Utica shale play by 2025. This announcement comes as the company continues to deliver superior results in its delineation and spacing tests across the vast acreage it operates in the region.
EOG’s budding Utica shale operation, situated on 445,000 net acres in the eastern part of Ohio, has seen significant progress in recent years. The early stages of development have focused on approximately 225,000 net acres producing volatile oil, with outstanding performance that matches or exceeds industry benchmarks.
“Everything so far has basically met type curve or exceeded it,” said Jeff Leitzell, EOG’s chief operating officer, during the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference. “On that 225,000 acres, we’re just about there. Everything kind of came in the way we want without any misses.”
This success is a testament to EOG’s strategic approach, which emphasizes incremental organic growth over large-scale mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The company believes that focusing on acreage management, contract negotiation, and field depletion rates offers more value in an organic growth model.
Leitzell emphasized that the Utica shale has the potential to become a foundational play for EOG, on par with its core Delaware Basin and Eagle Ford assets. The region’s favorable drilling environment and strong liquids production rates support cost efficiencies and high return on investment.
Following the company’s consistent production from delineation work and potential cost-competitiveness with parts of the Permian Basin, EOG is poised to allocate more capital towards its Utica holdings. According to Leitzell, this increased investment will support the development of the play, aiming to add to this year’s 20 net wells—a figure more than triple the 2023 total.
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