Nat G CNG Solutions Opens Natural Gas Vehicle Center Near San Antonio - Press Release

November 29, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Nat G CNG Solutions has opened a new natural gas vehicle solutions center in Converse, just outside of San Antonio.

The center will provide natural gas vehicle upgrades for both new and in-service vehicles, as well as fueling solutions for both private and large commercial fleets.

“South Texas is a leading producer of natural gas, and until now, there have been very limited options for fleets and consumers to convert their vehicles to cleaner burning Texas fuel,” said State Representative Jason Isaac. “Due in part to the success of our energy industry, Texas is leading the nation in job creation. I am delighted to see Nat G making this commitment to the greater San Antonio area and helping South Texas make the switch to Natural Gas Vehicles.”

Read more about the company at nat-g.com

Deloitte Oil & Gas Conference Speakers Detail a Bright Future in Energy

November 27, 2013 Kenny DuBose

Deloitte Oil Gas Conference - Global Capital Budgets

Deloitte held their annual Oil & Gas Conference on Nov 16th and the sessions featured several key leaders from across the industry.

While the conference is about the industry overall, the shale plays naturally commanded the lion's share of the conference. The mood was highly optimistic. We are no longer in the "shale revolution", rather this energy renaissance is a reality that is here to stay.

Overall, the common theme throughout the sessions could be summarized in a word: "Innovation." Whether it is lowering costs or utilizing currently flared gas through a gas-to-liquids (GTL) process, the industry sees room for growth.

A few key points and statistics we noted while at the conference:

Oil production is at levels not seen since the mid 1980s
The US has 15% of technically recoverable shale gas and 17% of technically recoverable shale oil resources globally
The US will pass Russia as leading O&G producer this year; will pass Saudi Arabia next year
Shale has increased our current trade balance by $200 million/yr and is predicted to give us oil independence by 2020
A better trade balance has led to increasing geopolitical influence in critical regions
The oil export ban needs reform. Otherwise, refinery changes are needed and we will consume more expensive crude.
Operators are focused on cutting costs to increase valuations
According to Maynard Holt, "we may be in the 8th inning of the shale game, but we're in the 3rd inning of the completion/cocktail game"
In the last five years, foreign firms have invested over $100 billion in US unconventional assets
Since 2008, Chinese joint ventures have spent 44 billion to acquire N. America based energy firms and assets
Gas-to-liquids technology is becoming more and more attractive with current oil and gas prices
Skip Horvath, Natural Gas Supply Association predicts that natural gas will hit $6.00 by 2020, "assuming Washington leaves us alone over the next few years."

"This boom isn't just for a few years. We believe the shale revolution really has staying power" -Ryan Lance, ConocoPhillips CEO

About the Deloitte Oil & Gas Conference

The Deloitte Oil & Gas Conference is an annual conference for oil and gas executives and leading industry experts to share their views on important issues facing the global oil and gas industry. The objective of this conference is to provide a forum for executives and managers from companies in all sectors of the oil and gas industry, commercial and investment bankers, industry analysts, service providers to the oil and gas industry, representatives of government agencies, trade groups and policy planners, to understand emerging issues.

Comstock - Ursa Resources Reach Eagle Ford Deal Worth $66.5 Million

November 26, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Comstock Resources East Texas Eagle Ford Map

Comstock Resources has announced plans to acquire 70% of Ursa Resources' interest in Eagle Ford assets in Burleson and Washington counties for $66.5 million.

The deal includes one well producing 433 boe/d and 32,000 gross (20,000 net) acres. Not many wells have been drilled in the immediate vicinity, but good wells have been drilled to the northeast and northwest.

Comstock will move a rig into the area in 2014 and is planning to drill 10 wells over the next year.

“This acquisition will allow us to extend our successful South Texas Eagle Ford shale program into East Texas,” stated M. Jay Allison, CEO. “The East Texas Eagle Ford acquisition combined with the acreage the company is acquiring in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale play will complement our successful oil drilling program in South Texas by adding multiple years of additional oil drilling inventory for Comstock.”

The deal supplements Comstock's 31,800 gross (26,500 net) acreage position in Atascosa, Frio, La Salle, and McMullen counties. Comstock estimates its Southern Eagle Ford assets have potential for 300 locations, 450,000-550,000 boe EURs, and resource potential of 70 million boe.

Just one week prior, Comstock announced the acquisition of 53,000 net acres targeting the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale in Louisiana and Mississippi for $54.5 million. The two deals combined significantly expand the company's potential to grow oil production.

Read the full Eagle Ford acquisition press release at comstockresources.com

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count 263 - Devon Spends Big in the Eagle Ford - Nov. 22, 2013

November 25, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by two rigs to 263 running this past week. We're in the home stretch and holiday season of the year, so it will be a surprise to see any significant shift in the rig count the next five weeks.

The region hit a low in terms of rigs targeting natural gas. Just 23 rigs are drilling for gas in the region. That's a multi-year low.

Devon made a big splash in the Eagle Ford by acquiring GeoSouthern Energy's Eagle Ford acreage for $6 billion. There was a lot of chatter about the price paid per acre being a record, but it is very difficult to compare prices paid for properties that were largely non-producing a couple of years ago to a property that is producing 53,000 boe/d today. No one outside of Devon knows how they valued the non-producing acreage acquired, but the smart money says they paid $20,000-25,0000/acre, with more than $4 billion attributed to production. Read more in the article: Devon - GeoSouthern Reach Eagle Ford Deal Worth $6 Billion

The U.S. rig count decreased 1 rig from 1,762 to 1,761 running over the past week. A total of 369 rigs are targeting natural gas (1 less than last week) and 1,387 (2 more than last week) are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 831 or 47% of rigs active in the U.S. are running in Texas.

Baker Hughes rig count is quoted here. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (226 rigs). The rig count published on EagleFordShale.com includes a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table near the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count fell six to 23 rigs running over the past week. That is a low in the Eagle Ford region and almost half the average of 42 rigs that have been targeting natural gas so far in 2013. Natural gas prices were up about ten cents during the week and were trading around $3.75/mmbtu on Friday. With the recent cold sweeping through the country, this might be the lowest we see prices for a while.

The oil rig count increased 9 rigs to 239. Many of the rigs were simply reclassified from targeting natural gas to oil. WTI oil prices were trading around $95/bbl to end the week and Eagle Ford light crude traded at $91.25/bbl on Nov. 22nd.

A total of 231 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 14 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 18 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes, DeWitt, La Salle, Gonzales, McMullen and Webb counties all have between 25 and 32 rigs running. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Operated Rig Count By Company

SmithBits no longer reports its operated rig count, but we'll have updated number for you from a new source soon. Until then, you can reference our numbers from mid-April. There has not been a significant change in the overall rig count since this date:

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 Baker Hughes 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.

How Thick Is the Eagle Ford?

November 22, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Eagle Ford Shale's thickness varies several hundred feet across the region and there's not a significant correlation to thickness and well productivity. The play's thickness ranges from less than 100 ft to 400 feet near the Mexico border. The average thickness is 250 ft across the most commonly targeted portions of the play.

Read more at our Eagle Ford Geology page.