Leaders at EV Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ: EVEP) believe they’ve proved up their Utica Shale holdings enough.

The market, as always, will decide. EVEP management plans to sell its Ohio assets, including its midstream services complex and the potential for recovery from the Utica Shale’s volatile oil window.

The MLP will begin marketing its operated and nonoperated acreage within an area of mutual interest (AMI) in 2015, said Mark Houser, president and CEO, during an earnings call. Overall, the company has 173,000 net working interest acres in the Utica.

EVEP has also participated in the joint venture (JV) with Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) and Total SA (NYSE: TOT) involving 120,000 acres in a largely wet gas window. Houser said that 22,000 of the acres are net to EVEP.

More than 500 wells have been drilled by Chesapeake in the AMI and about 95% are in the wet gas and dry gas windows.

“Within many parts of the AMI, we believe the Utica is now a proven play, particularly within Carroll County, Ohio, which makes up 55,000 of the 120,000 acres” the company has JV interests in, he said. “We have identified over 900 proved and probable locations on our acreage in Carroll County alone.”

Ohio statistics from the second quarter of 2014 show Carroll County production reached 35.6 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas in the second quarter, the most of any county in the state.

More recently, drilling in the play’s volatile oil window has seen solid results in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where EVEP and EnerVest are currently drilling. EnerVest, which formed EVEP in 2006, is also the controlling member of its general partner.

Chesapeake’s Parker well was completed in the oil window and was the best volatile oil window well EVEP has participated in to date, Houser said. Chesapeake is planning to drill three to five additional volatile oil window test wells in next six months.

Though known primarily for its gas production, the Utica Shale has wet natural gas, volatile oil, black oil and dry natural gas areas. Most drilling activity in the Utica Shale area has been in the wet natural gas area, but drilling activity is increasing in the dry natural gas and volatile oil areas. EVEP said its current focus in the volatile oil area is on hydraulic fracturing techniques necessary to economically drill and produce in this area.

Wells in Carroll County and other counties in the Utica sweet spot averaged $10.2 million in the second quarter of 2014, according to an August report by Bob Brackett, senior analyst, Bernstein Research.

EVEP is also preparing to divest its Utica East Ohio (UEO) midstream operations in the Utica. UEO has 800 MMcf/d of processing at its Kensington and Leesville plants, with 600 MMcf/d in service. The additional 200 MMcf/d is expected to start in December.

UEO gathers, processes and fractionates wet gas and NGL from Chesapeake-Total-EVEP JV production.

The midstream operation has 1 million dedicated working interest acres.

This year, EVEP has bought and sold several properties in the Utica and Texas.

In September, EVEP sold a 9% stake in Dallas’ Cardinal Gas Services gathering business for $161 million, tripling the company’s initial investment. It also sold East Eagle Ford Shale rights in Burleson, Brazos and Grimes counties, Texas, for $31 million.

“The deal leaves us with all of our Eagle Ford Shale formation rights in Lee, Fayette and Washington counties, which we will look to monetize at the appropriate time,” said John B. Walker, executive chairman.

EVEP is also drilling conventional wells in the Clinton Field, where 4,000 wells have been drilled since 1947.

The company estimates 1.5 billion barrels of oil in place in the Clinton reservoir with 7% recovered to date. At $80 oil, returns would be about 20%. EVEP has identified 70 drilling locations and has a working interest of 46% on 30,000 net acres.

EVEP said the drilling test results are compelling, with estimated EURs of 100-150 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe).