What is the Utica Point Pleasant play?

The Utica is an Ordovician calcareous shale in the Appalachian Basin, and the Point Pleasant interval just below it is the main producing target. It is the deep gas play of eastern Ohio (Belmont, Monroe, Harrison, Carroll, Guernsey) and extends into southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.

How is the Utica different from the Marcellus?

The Utica sits deeper, beneath the Devonian Marcellus, across much of the basin. Because the two are stacked, a single tract can hold rights in both intervals, and royalties can come from one or both depending on how the tract is developed.

How are Utica minerals valued?

A Utica interest is valued on the income it pays, roughly 36 to 72 times your average monthly royalty check. USGS resource figures describe the whole play, not your property. This is an estimate, subject to verification, not an offer.

The Utica (Point Pleasant) formation

Geology, footprint, and mineral-owner context for the Utica (Point Pleasant), drawn from public USGS and state survey sources. Resource figures describe the play as a whole and are not a per-acre value. Every figure on this page is an estimate subject to verification of your specific interest.

Last updated June 2026.

What is the Utica (Point Pleasant)?

The Utica is the Ordovician calcareous shale of the Appalachian Basin, and the Point Pleasant interval below it is the productive target, driving the deep dry-gas and wet-gas/condensate play of eastern Ohio and into southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, beneath the shallower Marcellus.

The Utica, and specifically the Point Pleasant interval just below it, is the deeper of the two great Appalachian gas plays. It is an Ordovician calcareous shale that sits well below the Devonian Marcellus, and most of the production actually comes from the carbonate-rich Point Pleasant member. The play is centered in eastern Ohio, in Belmont, Monroe, Harrison, Carroll, and Guernsey counties, where it ranges from dry gas in the deep east to wet gas and condensate updip, and it extends into southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. Because the Utica sits beneath the Marcellus across much of the basin, a single tract can hold rights in more than one stacked interval. For a mineral owner, a Utica royalty is valued on the income the wells actually pay, on the standard income multiple, with the dry-gas versus wet-gas mix influencing where the interest lands in the range.

Utica (Point Pleasant) geology

Age and lithology: Ordovician calcareous shale, with the underlying Point Pleasant interval providing most of the productive, carbonate-rich reservoir. Source: USGS Appalachian Basin Province assessment and Ohio Geological Survey.
Below the Marcellus: The Utica section sits beneath the Devonian Marcellus across much of the basin, so a tract can hold stacked rights in more than one interval.
Where it produces: Eastern Ohio (Belmont, Monroe, Harrison, Carroll, and Guernsey counties) extending into southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia; dry gas in the deep east, wet gas and condensate updip.

How much oil and gas the Utica (Point Pleasant) holds

In 2012 the USGS assessed the Utica Shale and adjacent units of the Appalachian Basin and reported large volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas, along with associated oil and natural gas liquids. These are undiscovered play-wide estimates, not proven reserves and not a measure of any individual property.

Source: USGS Fact Sheet 2012-3116 (Utica Shale, Appalachian Basin Province, 2012 assessment).

What the Utica (Point Pleasant) means for your minerals

A resource estimate for a play is not the value of your acreage. Your mineral and royalty interest is valued on the income your wells actually pay, roughly 36 to 72 times your average monthly royalty check, the same as 3 to 6 times your annual royalty. Where you land in that band depends on your wells decline, the operator, your royalty rate, and any undeveloped drilling upside. For the full method and a free on-screen estimate, see what are my mineral rights worth.

The Utica (Point Pleasant) is part of the Appalachian Basin. For the basin-wide value bands and the counties we buy in, see the Appalachian Basin page.

Utica (Point Pleasant) questions

What is the Utica Point Pleasant play?: The Utica is an Ordovician calcareous shale in the Appalachian Basin, and the Point Pleasant interval just below it is the main producing target. It is the deep gas play of eastern Ohio (Belmont, Monroe, Harrison, Carroll, Guernsey) and extends into southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.
How is the Utica different from the Marcellus?: The Utica sits deeper, beneath the Devonian Marcellus, across much of the basin. Because the two are stacked, a single tract can hold rights in both intervals, and royalties can come from one or both depending on how the tract is developed.
How are Utica minerals valued?: A Utica interest is valued on the income it pays, roughly 36 to 72 times your average monthly royalty check. USGS resource figures describe the whole play, not your property. This is an estimate, subject to verification, not an offer.

Sources

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