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Gulfport Secures Core Utica Expansion with Ohio State Lease Win

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Gulfport Energy (GPOR) has made a successful bid on about 4,700 net undeveloped acres in the core of the Ohio Utica play, it said on Monday.

Transacted through the competitive Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission State Land Lease Sale, the total purchase price reached $83 million, the company said.

The acquisition consists of a large, contiguous block of acreage in Belmont County, directly adjacent to Gulfport's active operational infrastructure and recently acquired discretionary parcels.

Development drilling on the newly acquired Belmont County acreage is projected to commence in 2027, with anticipated economic returns sitting at the top end of Gulfport's portfolio, the company's statement said.

Situated within the fairway of the highly productive, liquids-rich Utica wet gas window, the new acreage allows the company to minimize capital expenditure friction by leveraging its existing midstream capacity, it said.

Gulfport estimated the transaction adds roughly 16 net drilling locations when normalized to 15,000-foot laterals.

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