Heartland Energy Group Opens Another Location

April 13, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Heartland Energy Group, Ltd (HEG) is excited to announce our Grand Opening in San Antonio, TX. In addition to our Texas plant, we have other facilities strategically placed throughout the United States to enable us to service all your Oil and Gas needs! HEG offers proven technologies for the safe replacement of dangerous acids, caustics, solvents, surfactants and other companion products. Our green chemistries meet or exceed the EPA’s strict approval guidelines and are formulated with the ingredients listed on CleanGredients and the EPA’s Design for the Environment inventory list. These formulas represent a series of green chemistries that are functional yet safe alternatives, not only for the oil and gas companies who use them, but the citizens who live and work around major oil and gas activity. DfE approvals serve as a benchmark to answer the ongoing environmental questions about the safety of the products that are being used in our world daily.

HEG’s products represent a significant advancement in allowing companies to “Go Green” and to offer a truly effective and safer alternative to problems that have plagued the industry for decades. These problems include hazardous transportation issues, containment, exposure and safety of personnel to toxic chemicals, groundwater contamination issues caused from hydraulic fracturing and the destruction of industry related equipment due to corrosive chemistries. The solution? Green chemistry products like the HCl substitute created by the experts at Heartland Energy Group, Ltd.

Steve Rowley, President of HEG, was recently asked about the growing company’s continued success. He offered the following comment, “We are extremely blessed, honored and excited about having bricks and mortar in South Texas. We are a very conservative company and could no longer ignore the enormous demand that our customers have been placing on us about being in Texas. We have responded and our Texas customers will recognize an immediate savings on freight expenses alone and the ability to receive inventory right away. We look forward to serving the Texas area and are currently looking at other opportunities in the Bakken.”

HEG will continue to manufacture, innovate and pioneer new “GO GREEN” technologies that truly improve our environment and offer functional replacements for harsh acids, caustics and solvents, notably our flagship HCl substitute. This technology will further enhance and eliminate the need for dangerous chemicals associated with stimulation and production chemicals. Most importantly, we listen to the needs of our customers and implement environmentally safe solutions. Our green technologies, personal touch and commitment to quality set us apart from other companies in our growing industry.

OUR PROVEN GREEN TECHNOLOGIES WILL LEAD THE WAY TO A SAFER INDUSTRY AS WELL AS SAFER COMMUNITIES!

Eagle Ford Rig Count Drops to 137

April 10, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Texas State Flag — Texas Rigs Continue to Decrease

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count fell by 13 this week ending at 137 rigs running across our coverage by midday Thursday.
In recent Eagle Ford news, Mexico plans to move forward on pipeline initiatives that will impact the Eagle Ford in Texas despite low crude prices. The state power company (CFE) has initiated an aggressive construction campaign that includes $3.3 billion to be spent on 12 natural gas and electricity projects.
Read more: More Pipelines Cross Texas-Mexico Border
The U.S. rig count fell another 40 to 988 rigs running as of today. A total of 225 rigs were targeting natural gas (an increase of three from the previous week) and 760 were targeting oil in the U.S. (52 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)427 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.
Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. 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
Natural gas rigs increased by three and totaled 16 rigs by midday Friday with Natural gas prices decreased $.20 from the previous week landing at at $2.51/mmbtu by week’s end. .
The oil rig count fell to 137 rigs last week. WTI oil prices increased $2.50 from the previous week, trading at $51.64/bbl on Friday afternoon.. A total of 134 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero rigs are drilling directional wells, and vertical rigs are at three. Karnes (20), DeWitt (19), and Webb (17)and LaSalle (17), have the highest rig counts this week. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by Count

Eagle Ford Shale News

Texas Job Growth Slows
Baker Hughes Closes Another Texas Location
NuStar Announces Open Season
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.
Read more at bakerhughes.com

Texas Job Growth Slows

April 9, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

As crude prices continue to bounce around, the effects of sustained low prices are showing up in slowed job growth throughout Texas.

The Texas Workforce Commission reported that the state added 7,100 jobs in February, which was the smallest monthly job gain since October 2011. The biggest hit came in the oil industry where 6,900 jobs were lost in January and February.

Low crude prices means reduced activity and the decreased demand for oilfield equipment and services means layoffs for many companies that service producers. These companies are reporting significant revenue losses as drilling activity and oil prices have steadily declined. Recent layoffs in the service sector include:

Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill will cut 159 jobs
Tenaris will cut 133 workers from its northwest Houston plant
AFGlobal Corp. will cut 89 workers from the company’s North Houston facility
DHW Well Service Inc. will cut 55 workers from a fabrication shop in Victoria

“Texas ‘continues to be a model for economic growth and prosperity across the nation. However, there is more we can and must do. I am working with the legislature to ensure we pass legislation that lowers the tax burden on businesses, guarantees long-term funding for transportation, and provides economic development opportunities – including in higher education - to further diversify our economy.’ ”

— Gov. Greg Abbott

Despite the slowed job growth, the Texas consumer confidence index increased 4.7 percent over this time last year and the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent, down from 4.4 percent in January 2015.

Baker Hughes Closes Another Texas Location

April 8, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Chesapeake Cuts Budget for 2015 — Baker Hughes Cuts Jobs

Baker Hughes pink slips are starting to add up. The latest casualties are the 54 employees who will be out of work when Baker Hughes permanently closes its office in Bryan, TX.

Since the first of the year, Baker Hughes has closed other Texas locations including operations in Mineral Wells (110 employees), Kilgore (58) and Alice (51).

Baker Hughes representatives continue to say that job cuts are part of a company wide workforce reduction of an estimated 7000 workers in order to minimize costs during this downturn in oil prices. Also at play is Baker Hughes’ upcoming merger with Halliburton, where it is likely that both companies will combine operations and eliminate redundancies.

The Houston Chronicle reported in December that the combined company expects to make $2 billion in cuts, with most of the job loses coming from operations.

“We don’t want to be insensitive to the uncertainty and acknowledge that the fact that anytime you have institutions of this size coming together there will be some adjustments, but I think it would be premature to speculate.”

— Baker Hughes CEO, Martin Craighead

More Pipelines Cross Texas-Mexico Border

April 7, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Despite low oil prices, Mexico will move forward on pipeline initiatives that will impact the Eagle Ford in Texas.

Jumping on the opportunities afforded by the new energy reform measures, the state power company (CFE) has initiated an aggressive construction campaign that includes $3.3 billion to be spent on 12 natural gas and electricity projects.

Even though oil prices have tanked, the state power company (CFE) plans to move forward on a couple of these projects including the $450 million Colombia-Escobedo pipeline. This project, set to begin in June 2017, will include the development and construction of 155 miles of pipe to run from the town of Colombia in the US border to Escobedo in Mexico's Nuevo León state. The pipeline will have a capacity of 500Mf3/d and will transport natural gas from Webb County, Texas to Nuevo León state where it will be connected to the country's pipeline network.

The oil industry has historically been a key factor in Mexico’s economy, accounting for 13% of the nations export revenue in 2013. But production has fallen over the last 10 years and in an effort to open the Mexican energy sector to competition and fuel increased investment in infrastructure, the country has initiated historic energy reform measures.

Crucial to these reforms is insuring Mexico's access to abundant, low-cost US natural gas through expanded pipelines on both sides of the border.

“Mexico has suffered a deficit of natural gas and could not import enough gas to satisfy national demand,” Wood said at the Gulf Coast Power Association meeting in Houston yesterday. “Pipeline projects to carry low-cost US natural gas into Mexico will help solve the supply question, Wood said. “That may be the single biggest factor that is changing Mexico’s electric sector.”