Chesapeake Trucking Job Fair September 8, 2011

The hiring continues: If you’re looking for a job in South Texas or with a major operator, be sure to check the Eagle Ford job listings for your opportunity.

Oilfield Trucking Solutions, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy, will hold a trucking job fair in San Antonio on Thursday, Sept. 8.

The company plans to hire about 20 experienced full-time truck drivers in the near term to transport petroleum products from the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas play, Chesapeake spokesman Silver Vasquez says. It expects to add 50 more trucking jobs over the next six months.

Read the full news article at bizjournals.com

Drought = Fires in Texas

Texas Fire Map

The Texas drought is wreaking havoc on the state. South Texas is blanketed with smoke and fires near Bastrop have taken lives and hundreds of homes. Wildfires have spread throughout Texas and destroyed millions of acres. If you live in affected areas, please use any and all precautions. Weather reports indicate we'll get a reprieve from the wind over the next few days. Firefighters should have a better chance of controlling the fires if that proves correct.

To our knowledge, the fires have not directly impacted any oil & gas operators, but that can change if we don't get rain sooner or later. We don't have any areas of the state that are immune to the risk of fires.

This map will give you an idea of just how bad it is:

Texas Drought Map

We'll keep the families impacted by the fires in our prayers.

Floresville Housing Stretched by the Eagle Ford

Eagle Ford Housing demand from oilfield workers is stretching all the way from San Antonio to smaller surrounding towns like Floresville. Neither town sits atop the Eagle Ford, but industry workers have filled beds and made it hard to find a room. RV parks, and hotels are popping up everywhere. I expect we'll get a home building boom in the near future.

The oil boom in South Texas is starting to stretch north -- to an area without any oil or natural gas.

The town of Floresville, located about 40 miles Southeast of San Antonio -- but North of the Eagle Ford oil and gas field -- is starting to feel effects of the boom.

"We have had an influx of oil workers from the area," said Jesse Perez, Floresville's economic director.

Most of those oil field workers are looking for housing. Perez said a new hotel in town has almost been completed and another one is about to start construction.

Strike Energy JV Adds Eagle Ford Acreage

Strike Energy now holds over 6,200 net acres across southern Fayette County and Lavaca County. Drilling will start sometime in the fourth quarter or early 2012.  

Strike has a 27.5% working interest in Eagle Landing Joint Venture, which has been building a lease hold position within the Eagle Ford Shale trend in Texas. The Eagle Ford Shale has rapidly emerged as one of the USA’s most sought after unconventional gas and liquids plays.

The Joint Venture has now increased its lease position to 22,764 acres (6,260 acres net to Strike). Recently reported production rates from Eagle Ford Shale wells adjacent to Strike’s acreage have confirmed the extension of the Eagle Ford productive trend. The Joint Venture is planning to further evaluate the acreage through a drilling program over the next six months.

Read the full press release at strikeenergy.com.au

Magnum Hunter Resources 2012 Capital Expenditures Down $55 Million

Magnum Hunter released its capital spend for 2012. The company will spend a total of $200 million with $50 million directed to midstream investments through Eureka Hunter Pipeline.  That's a drop of approximately $55 million from 2011, but 2012's budget will be funded without the need for raising external capital.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation MHR announced today that the Company's Board of Directors has approved a capital expenditure budget for fiscal year 2012 of $200 million. The 2012 budget includes an upstream capex budget of $150 million which will be allocated to fund the exploration and development programs within the Company's three unconventional resource plays: (i) the Williston Basin -- Bakken/Three Forks Sanish/Madison; (ii) the Appalachian Basin -- liquids rich Marcellus/Utica/Huron/Weir; and, (iii) the Eagle Ford Shale oil play of Central and South Texas. In addition, the Company has allocated $50 million of capex to the midstream division, Eureka Hunter Pipeline. The 2012 capital budget does not include any expenditures for potential acquisition activities.

Read the full press release at magnumhunterresources.com