Utica shale attracting more interest

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. energy company Gulfport announced it spent $300 million to increase its holdings of acreage in the Utica shale play in eastern Ohio.

Gulfport Energy Corp. announced it acquired 30,000 net acres in the deal with Windsor Ohio LLC. Gulfport said the deal increases its Utica acreage to 99,000 net acres.

In November, the company said it produced more than 28 million cubic feet of natural gas during an 18-hour test at its Shugert 1-12H well in the Utica shale play.

The company, which has headquarters in Oklahoma, said it would start sending natural gas from the well to a commercial pipeline by the end of January.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the reserve, which lies underneath the Marcellus shale play, contains 38 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas and 940 million barrels of unconventional oil resources.

Gulfport said it expected 2012 production to be as high as 2.6 million barrels of oil equivalent. By next year, the figure could increase to 7.7 million boe.