Exporting Eagle Ford Gas is One Step Closer

Cheniere Energy announced the week before Christmas that it has plans for a Texas natural gas export facility near Corpus Christi and that it reached a supply agreement with an Indian company for gas exported from the Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana. Through its Corpus Christi Liquefaction subsidiary, the company began the regulatory process for getting approval to add a 2 Bcf/d export facility in the La Quinta Channel on the Northeast side of Corpus Christi Bay in San Patricio County, TX. An export facility where operators can lock in higher gas prices for extended periods would expand commercial development of the Eagle Ford further into the dry gas window.

Cheniere Energy also added a supply agreement at its Sabine Pass facility. The company and GAIL Limited have agreed to a 20 year deal where the Indian company will purchase 3.5 mtpa or close to 500 mmcfd of gas at a price indexed to Henry Hub. The contract begins with the first commercial delivery.

GAIL signed an Eagle Ford JV agreement with Carrizo in September of 2011 and the deal with Cheniere is a big step in ensuring the company realizes better natural gas prices. 

The Eagle Ford is largely supported by liquids (condensate, oil, NGLs) production, but better gas prices could open up the dry gas window to higher levels of development.

(Development) at one of Cheniere's existing sites that was previously permitted for a regasification terminal. The LNG export terminal site is located in San Patricio County, Texas, and it is anticipated that the terminal would be primarily supplied by reserves from the Eagle Ford Shale, located approximately sixty miles northwest of Corpus Christi. The proposed liquefaction project ("Corpus Christi Project") is being designed for up to three trains capable of producing in aggregate up to 13.5 million tonnes per annum ("mtpa").

Read more at cheniere.com

"GAIL will join BG and Gas Natural Fenosa as the next foundation customer for our Sabine Pass liquefaction project. GAIL is India's leading natural gas company and its largest shareholder is the Government of India," said Charif Souki, Chairman and CEO. "We are building a strong portfolio of customers, consisting of energy companies engaged in the natural gas, LNG and power markets with operations spanning the globe. We continue to hold advanced discussions with additional global LNG buyers and expect to complete commercial discussions for the remaining capacity of the second phase of the project, train three, in the coming weeks."

Read the entire press release at cheniere.com

267 Rig Record During Christmas Week - December 23, 2011

drilling rig
drilling rig 6

A small Christmas gift from the Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count that jumped to 267 active rigs last week. Thats a new record for drilling in the area (again). The previous high was 264 set during the week of November 18, 2011. With most companies adding rigs in the new year, don't expect this record to last long. 245 of the 267 rigs are drilling horizontal wells. Vertical drilling now accounts for less than 10% of all drilling in the area (mostly non-Eagle Ford). Oil prices recovered a bit over the past week (close to $100/bbl) and gas prices remained weak. The January natural gas contract is bouncing around $3/mmbtu (Henry Hub), but the natural gas rig count grew two rigs to a total of 95 rigs working the play. While $3 gas isn't adding incremental development, the Eagle Ford rig count will remain dependent on liquids prices.

The number of oil rigs working increased by 10 to reach a total of 172. 

Webb (37) still leads the region, while Karnes (35), La Salle (34), McMullen (26), DeWitt (25), Dimmit (24), and Gonzales (19) round out the top counties in the area. All but McMullen added rigs during the week.

Hess Corporation added its first Eagle Ford operated rig. The unit is running in La Salle County, TX. Hess is one of the largest operators in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota.

Stay tuned for updates on the South Texas drilling 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 formation. 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

Short Geology Review

Eagle Ford geology was recently reviewed by a local geologist for readers of the Pleasanton Express.

As a matter of fact, it was the source bed for the Woodbine Sandstone Formation in the East Texas Field which is the largest oil field in the original 48 states. It was discovered in 1930 and it has produced over five billion barrels of oil....

 

We analyzed that Formation and found it to be a premier source bed for hydrocarbons. That was back in 1968.....

The Carrizo aquifer is several thousands of feet above the Eagle Ford so that fracking the Eagle Ford to produce hydrocarbons should not disturb the Carrizo aquifer. The same is true for the Pearsall, it’s not going to access the Carrizo aquifer either.

 

Eagle Ford is Drawing Truckers South of San Antonio

Truck drivers from all across the state and country are flocking to South Texas where there are hundreds of open Eagle Ford jobs. The economic boom creates a lot of opportunity for all professions. One unintended consequence is many drivers are moving out of cities like San Antonio for higher wages in the oil field. With signing bonuses and higher rates for workers in the Eagle Ford, it is very difficult attract drivers in other areas.

“Before the Eagle Ford, but after the economic downturn, we still had plenty of qualified people looking for work,” Levy said. “But since the onset of activity in the Eagle Ford, we have had very few to no qualified (commercial driver's license) drivers apply.”

A commercial driver's license, or CDL, is a key requirement for many trucking jobs, both in San Antonio and in the shale.

The Levy Co. LP, which transports and installs highway construction signs and lights, requires a CDL for most jobs. The company needs workers who can drive to a job and then complete the work.

Workers capable of doing such a job “were never easy to get, but there were more people I could at least train, as long as they had the CDL,” Levy said.

Read more at mysanantonio.com

Adding 10,000 Jobs to San Antonio's Economy

The oil and gas industry is expected to add more than 10,000 Eagle Ford jobs to the San Antonio area. That's a quote straight from the former Mayor Henry Cisneros.

Ten thousand jobs would have twice the economic effect as that of the Toyota plant and its suppliers, he said, even as he sought to tamp down enthusiasm a bit.

Read the full story at mysanantonio.com