Oilfield Job Creation is Outpacing Projections in Bexar County

Oilfield job creation is outpacing expectations in Bexar County. An economist at UTSA expected 4,000 direct jobs in San Antonio by 2020 and is revising his number UP to 6,000. The industry is going to reshape the economic climate in South Texas. Don't forget that San Antonio doesn't sit atop the Eagle Ford either. The number of jobs created across the shale play will be multiples of the Bexar County (San Antonio) number Check out available positions at the Eagle Ford Shale Jobs Board.

UTSA Senior Economist Javier Oyakawa, the author of the widely quoted Eagle Ford Shale economic-impact study, says he expects the oil and gas play to create at least 6,000 jobs here by 2020 rather than the originally forecasted 3,900.

“From what we’ve seen so far, it’s time to rethink our numbers,” he says. “Several companies are going to be opening offices here"

Read the entire article at bizjournals.com

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling Rig Count - October 21, 2011

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The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count decreased seven rigs to 240 active drilling rigs. That brings us below the record set last week. Approximately 200 of the rigs are targeting the Eagle Ford formation, while the remainder target formations such as the Austin Chalk, Buda Lime, and Pearsall shale. The number of natural gas rigs working decreased a whopping 14 rigs. That reflects the current softness in natural gas prices, which is trading at $3.60 per mcf.  Six oil rigs were added during the week to bring the total to 128. Webb County contributed the bulk of the changes. Five rigs in the county shifted from gas to oil. Operators are telling us $90 oil is attractive and sub $4 natural gas is not.

One injection well is being drilled in Gonzales County and horizontal wells account for over 90% of drilling with 211 of the 240 rigs in the South Texas region.

Chesapeake Energy (27) and EOG Resources (22) are the only operators with more than 20 rigs active in the play.  36 companies have two or more crews running.

Earnings season has kicked off, so we heard results from a couple of Eagle Ford companies this week. The earthquake near Karnes County topped headlines on Thursday and Friday

Stay tuned each week for an update on the South Texas rig count. 

Drilling Rig Count by Operator

What is the Rig Count?

The Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across a 30 county area in South Texas. The South Texas rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by SmithBits and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford Shale. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count and/or Smith Service Co's (Schlumberger) Smith Rig Count.

Drilling Rigs by County

Karnes County Earthquake Sets Record in Eagle Ford Area

A 4.8 magnitude Karnes County earthquake rattled doors Thursday morning. (Atascosa County is now reported as the epicenter) You can view USGS data Here. It isn't the first earthquake in the area, but was larger than previous quakes. It was just 2008, which is before Eagle Ford Shale development began, when a 3.7 magnitude quake struck the area and 1993 when the largest I can remember hit the area (4.3 mag). Yesterday's disturbance is likely the largest on record for the area, but one of a dozen or so since 1990. Tremors were felt as far as San Antonio. Oil & gas drilling activity has not been linked to this event. If drilling directly led to earthquakes, West Texas would have fallen off the map a long time ago. It just so happens that oil & gas are present in areas of high tectonic activity. The Los Angeles basin is one of the most active areas in the world and also boast the most hydrocarbons per cubic ft of rock in the world.

There have been concerns that deep disposal wells where fluids are being injected into the ground could be tied to small earthquakes. It won't be clear for a long time if that might be the case here. Test are ongoing in more established shale plays in North Texas' Barnett Shale and in Arkansas' Fayetteville Shale.

No injuries or major damage was reported, and the light quake wasn't even noticed by some residents living close to the epicenter, near Karnes City. Yet small vibrations felt in San Antonio did cause occupants to briefly evacuate a downtown federal building as a precaution.

The quake struck at 7:24 a.m. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was the largest earthquake on record for the area, surpassing a magnitude-4.3 shock recorded in 1993.

Thursday's earthquake occurred in a zone that has shaken in the past. From 1990 to 2006, at least a dozen small quakes rattled this region.

"It's an area where we've seen events before," said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough in Pasadena, Calif. "So it's not a big surprise."

Read a full news release at nydailynews.com

Here's an interview with a geologist at ksat.com and an article from caller.com that details the total number of earthquakes expected worldwide this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kinder Morgan - Copano Energy Open Eagle Ford Rich Gas System

Kinder Morgan and Copano Energy's Eagle Ford Shale joint venture began gas flows on its rich gas gathering system in August. Plans include more than 400 miles of pipe and more than 700 mmcfd of processing capacity. A condensate line that will traverse much of south Texas is slated to open in mid 2012. 

In our natural gas pipeline segment, certainly the developments in the Eagle Ford continue to be really doing very well. Eagle Ford Gathering which is a joint venture between ourselves and Copano Energy in South Texas, initiated flow on our rich gas gathering system on August 1.

Currently the joint venture expects to have about 400 miles of pipelines with capacity together and process over 700 million cubic feet per day, by early 2012. If you include 50% interest in the joint venture, but not including the crude condensate line, our natural gas pipeline segment has committed about $200 million to expansion projects in the Eagle Ford Shale play. And we continue to make progress on our straight Condensate line which we expect to go and service in mid 2012, that will actually be a part of our products pipeline segment.

Read more quotes from Kinder Morgan at seekingalpha.com