(Michigan) Record amount spent on oil, gas leases

[phantom power]

TRAVERSE CITY — A successful oil and gas test well in Missaukee County set off a flurry of interest in the state's underground mineral resources.

Energy companies this week spent $178 million at a single auction to buy oil and gas leases for state-owned land, more than seven times the state's previous auction record of $23.6 million set in 1981.

They also recently snapped up plenty of private land mineral leases, all in anticipation of what new horizontal drilling and hydrologic fracturing technologies can squeeze from the Utica Shale, a formation beneath much of northern Michigan.

The test well is owned by Petoskey Exploration LLC, a subsidiary of Canada-based Encana Corp., a leading North American natural gas producer. The well produced in its initial 30-day test period about 2.5 million cubic feet daily in natural gas.

http://record-eagle.com/local/x1522096090/Record-amount-spent-on-oil-gas-leases