HOUSTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Houston-based shale producer

EOG Resources ( EOG ) expects to ramp up operations in the Utica

shale play in Ohio, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Leitzell told

attendees at the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference in New

York on Tuesday.

EOG Resources ( EOG ) has doubled its activity in the Utica

year-on-year, operating on 445,000 acres with an average entry

cost of around $600 per acre, Leitzell said.

"The Utica absolutely has the opportunity to be a

foundational play," Leitzell said. "If we continue to have the

success that we expect to, you can expect us to go ahead now and

put more capital there."

EOG is also developing its Dorado natural gas play in the

Eagle Ford in southeast Texas. The company has managed record

low gas prices in part by deferring a handful of completions to

the second half of the year.

"There's going to be long periods of low pricing with short

duration periods of high pricing, and you've got to be able to

make returns and margins all the way through those periods on

the gas side," Leitzell said.