NEW YORK, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Integrated oil and natural gas company Hess Corp. announced it spent $593 million to buy into the Utica shale gas pay in eastern Ohio.
Hess took on a 50 percent stake in 200,000 acres in the Utica shale deposit in eastern Ohio through the deal with Consol Energy Inc.
Hess under the deal will operate 80,000 acres, while Consol takes on the remaining acres in the play.
John Hess, chairman and chief executive officer at Hess, said the deal gives his company a good position in an emerging shale gas play.
"We believe that this acquisition offers significant potential for future growth in reserves and production with most of the land either owned in fee or held by production with high net revenue interests," he said in a statement.
Chesapeake energy, which holds 1.25 million acres in the Utica shale field and has five rigs dedicated to shale development there, described Utica as a transformative field, holding as much as 25 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Shale development is controversial because the methods used to coax gas out of the rock formations are viewed as potentially harmful to groundwater supplies.
