Texas-based energy company picked to lease Ohio Keen Wildlife Area for fracking

About a dozen anti-fracking activists held up signs in the back of the room during the Aug. 12 Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management meeting (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal.)

A Texas-based energy company has been selected as the “highest and best” bidder to lease Keen Wildlife Area for fracking during Monday’s Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management meeting.

Four other parts of the state in Belmont, Monroe and Harrison counties — all Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio Department of Transportation properties — were also approved to be fracked by the “highest and best” bidders.

These areas were approved for fracking during Monday’s meeting:

• Gulfport Appalachia, LLC had the winning bid for five parcels in Flushing Township, Belmont County for $18,666 ($6,000/acre).
• Gulfport Appalachia, LLC had the winning bid for 1.370 acres in Fisher’s Grove Park in Summit Township in Monroe County for $5,480($4,000/acre).
• Gulfport Appalachia, LLC had the winning bid for 2.846 acres gross acres in Wayne Township in Belmont County for $17,076 ($6,000/acre).
• Texas-based Tiburon Oil and Gas Ohio, LLC had the highest bid for three parcels in Somerset Township in Belmont County for $6,545 ($5,500/acre).
• EOG Resources, Inc — also based in Texas — had the highest bid for 84.66 acres in Keen Wildlife Area in Washington Township, Harrison County for $211,650 ($2,500/acre).

Fracking is the process of injecting liquid into the ground at a high pressure to extract oil or gas and it has been documented in over 30 states, according to the Center for Biological Diversity .

The commissioners posted the nominated leasing parcels for bid on July 10 and Friday was the deadline to submit bids. Each lease agreement includes a 12.5% royalty paid to the state for production, per state law, with an additional financial incentive paid by the winning bidder to the state, according to ODNR.

The lease bonuses for these nominations chosen by the committee is $47,767 for ODOT properties and $211,650 for ODNR properties, according to ODNR.

Notably, 40 parcels of land in Salt Fork State Park and Salt Fork Wildlife Area were removed from the committee’s agenda last week by the nominator. These parcels were up for a vote to move forward in the bidding process.

The commissioners disapproved less than an acre of land in Guernsey County from moving forward in the bidding process “due to a condition in the nomination that could render the economic benefits too low to warrant approval pursuant to Ohio Revised Code,” according to ODNR.

Anti-fracking advocates

About a dozen anti-fracking activists held up signs at the back of the room during the meeting that read “Keep parks parks not oil and gas fields,” “Enjoy don’t destroy God’s creation,” and “Hands off our parks.”

The activists shouted various phrases and questions at the commissioners during the meeting including “rubber stampers,” “a place that is being fracked is no longer a wildlife area,” and “have you considered all the accidents that happen related to gas and oil?”

The commissioners continued with the meeting and didn’t directly address any of the activists’ interjections.

There were more than 1,400 fracking incidents associated with oil and gas wells in Ohio between 2018 and September 2023, according to FracTracker Alliance — a nonprofit that collects data on fracking pipelines.

About 10% of those incidents were reported as fires or explosions. 64 of those incidents happened in Belmont County, 59 happened in Monroe County and 26 happened in Harrison County.

Jenny Morgan with Save Ohio Parks said after the meeting she is fearful for Ohio’s children.

“Our children need nature regularly, and they need it to be clean and healthy,” she told the Capital Journal. “I care about our environment that impacts our health and our children’s health, and we need these spaces to be clean.”

Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.

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