Gulfport Energy takes on more Utica shale

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. energy company Gulfport Energy Corp. said it amended a deal reached this week to take on additional shale acreage in eastern Ohio.

Gulfport this week said it spent $300 million to acquire 30,000 net acres of Utica shale in a deal with Windsor Ohio LLC. Last month, Gulfport 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.

Gulfport, which has headquarters in Oklahoma, said it amended the deal to pay another $70 million to take an additional 7,000 shale acres from the company.

"After giving effect to the Utica acquisition described above, Gulfport currently expects 2013 production to be in the range 7.6 million to 7.9 million barrels of oil equivalent," the company said.

Utica shale, which lies underneath the Marcellus shale play, holds an estimated 38 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas and 940 million barrels of unconventional oil resources, the U.S. Geological Survey says.

Gulfport said it would start sending natural gas from the well to a commercial pipeline by the end of January.