Gulfport Energy ramps up Utica Shale drilling activity

Gulfport Energy, one of the larger drillers in the Utica Shale, says it will speed up drilling new wells in September after starting 12 wells in Ohio during its second quarter ending June 30.
The Oklahoma City energy company this week said it has budgeted to drill 36 to 39 horizontal wells and “turn to sale” 37 to 41 wells in the Utica Shale by the end of this year. Gulfport said it began selling product from five new wells in the shale in the last week of June.
Gulfport said it has three drilling rigs in Ohio and has contracted a fourth to start operations in September.
Gulfport on Wednesday reported it lost $339.8 million, or $2.71 cents per share on negative revenue of nearly $28.2 million for the quarter ending June 30.
“With an improving fundamental outlook for natural gas and the recent strengthening in commodity prices, our strong financial position has provided us with the ability to react quickly and increase our activity within the basin,” Michael G. Moore, chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We now plan to increase our activity in the near-term to take advantage of an improving natural gas market as we enter 2017, providing us leverage at a point in time when we see significant potential for strength in the curve.”