• Establish an asset portfolio pursuing first mover advantages in emerging plays whenever possible
• Build a financially conservative capital structure with low levels of debt allowing for flexibility in pursuing acquisition opportunities as they present themselves

• Developing operating efficiencies in our core areas providing for a stream of free cash flow and effective growth through the drill bit
• Securing significant acreage positions in emerging plays among major players
• Providing long-term growth opportunities through investing in high impact projects

Operations Overview

The Utica Shale is located in the Appalachian Basin of the United States and Canada. The Utica Shale is a rock unit comprised of organic rich calcareous black shale that was deposited about 440 million to 460 million years ago during the Late Ordovician period. It overlies the Trenton Limestone and is located a few thousand feet below the Marcellus Shale.

The Point Pleasant formation, a submember of the lower part of the Utica interval, is the primary target of the play.

Horizontal drilling, combined with multistage hydraulic fracturing to create permeable flow paths from wellbores into shale units, has unlocked the resource potential of the play.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources reported that in the Utica Shale in Ohio, as of January 2, 2016, there were 1,126producing horizontal wells, 403 horizontal wells that had been drilled but were not yet completed or connected to a pipeline, 12horizontal wells that were being drilled and an additional 447horizontal wells that had been permitted.