Gulfport Energy Corp is the second largest driller in Ohio, having drilled over 200 wells. The company has been pleased with the production that has come from its lease holdings, however, Gulfport CEO Michael Moore stated this week that the large Utica driller plans to “batten down its hatches for the foreseeable future on its Ohio-Utica operations.” The CEO has also made the decision to shut-in all of Gulfport’s well competition activities through at least the first quarter of 2016. Gulfport’s outlook on commodity prices does not improve until 2017. Therefore, Gulfport will only keep 4 drilling rigs in the Utica which is down from the 8 it had in 2014, which means they will likely keep drilling and completions to a minimum throughout most of 2016. Despite this, Vine Royalty is still buying in the Utica.