Chesapeake invests big in Utica shale

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HOUSTON, March 14 (UPI) -- A $900 million investment in infrastructure for Ohio shale gas reserves will bring 600 million cubic feet of gas per day to the market, Chesapeake Energy said.

Chesapeake announced it entered into a partnership with counterparts M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners to develop a $900 million complex meant to process natural gas and natural gas liquids from the Utica shale gas play in eastern Ohio.

"The state-of-the-art cryogenic processing facility will be located in Columbiana County and have an initial capacity of 600 million cubic feet per day," Chesapeake said in a statement.

"NGLs will be delivered to a central NGL hub complex in Harrison County that will feature an initial NGL storage capacity of 870,000 barrels and fractionation capacity of 90,000 barrels per day, as well as a substantial rail-loading facility."

Total's U.S. subsidiary took a 25 percent stake in Utica shale natural gas assets held by Chesapeake Exploration and its partner EnerVest Ltd. early this year.

The French company described the Ohio shale deposit as "very promising" acreage. There have been more than a dozen wells dug in the Utica shale play with 24 rigs planned for mobilization by 2014.