Eagle Ford Well Explodes

May 21, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

NOAA Studies Eagle Ford Emissions — Well Explodes

An Eagle Ford oil well exploded Tuesday afternoon and forced the evacuation of several nearby homes.

The well, operated by Enaca Corp was located off of FM 792 about four miles east of Karnes City, TX. Karnes County, Sheriff Dwayne Villanueva said the well pump that exploded was shut off but hydrogen sulfide gas still escaped. No one was reported injured.

The latest update on Wednesday at 3pm was that the flow of gas has been slowed and the company was working to shut it down completely.

An Encana spokesman affirmed "that the company is providing accommodation and incidental expenses to evacuated residents until the well is shut down and Encana and the Karnes County Sherriff’s Department determine it's safe for them to return to their homes."

“At approximately 3:30 p.m. CST on May 19, 2015 Encana experienced a well control situation at the Dromgoole 8BH well located near the intersection of Highway 792 and Highway 343 approximately 4 miles east of central Karnes City, Texas.

No injuries have been reported from the location. We immediately activated our emergency response plan. As a precaution, neighbors living in the immediate area were evacuated. Local authorities are on location.

We are monitoring for the presence of H2S. Our main priority is to ensure the safety of our staff and community. We will continue to monitor the area.

We are working to shut down well and will provide additional information as it becomes available. The cause is not known at this time.

We will work to determine the exact cause and will conduct a comprehensive review into what occurred.”

— Official statement from Encana

"Denton Fracking Bill" Now Law

May 20, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the popularly named, “Denton Fracking Bill” on Monday that allows state authority to override local decisions about oil and gas regulations.

House Bill 40 sailed through the Texas House and Senate over the last few weeks as legislators responded to Denton’s ban on hydraulic fracking in the city limits that local authorities passed in November. The bill seeks to clarify the lines between ofr gets to decide about these activities.

Responses to the the announcement have been no surprise, with oil and gas companies hailing the bill's passage.

“Balanced, fair and essential to ensure that the state’s biggest job creator can continue to operate responsibly under robust and predictable regulation.”

— The Texas Oil and Gas Association

owever, local governments and environmental groups are outraged and believe they now have no control to protect property values and quality of life from rampant drilling.

“By advocating for and signing this bill, Gov. Abbott has succeeded in seizing power away from local governments working to protect us from the real dangers of dirty drilling,”

— Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas

Chesapeake Headed to Arbitration

May 19, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Chesapeake Before Texas High Court — Chesapeake Energy to Arbitrate with Aubrey McClendon.

A district court judge in Oklahoma has ordered Chesapeake Energy to enter arbitration in an attempt to settle its dispute with American Energy Partners.

In a lawsuit filed in February, Chesapeake accused its former CEO, Aubrey McClendon, of stealing important trade secrets before leaving the company in 2013 and then using the confidential information to build American Energy Partners.

Attorneys for American Energy accused Chesapeake of using gimmicks to stay out of arbitration and Judge Thomas Prince agreed. Prince granted the request for arbitration, though it is unclear when it will begin.

“Chesapeake cannot escape its contractual commitment to arbitrate through the procedural gimmick of leaving Mr. McClendon’s name off.”

— American Energy

Last week, Chesapeake Energy reported 2015 first quarter loss of$3.8 billion. In spite of huge losses, CEO Yet Doug Lawler remained upbeat and focused on Chesapeake’s innovations.

Chesapeake is active all across the Eagle Ford including Atascosa County, Dimmit County, Duval County, Frio County, Goliad County, LaSalle County, McMullen County, Washington County, Webb County and Zavala County.

Eagle Ford Family Wants Their Day in Court

May 18, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

A Texas Court of Appeals heard arguments last week from the attorneys of an Eagle Ford family who wants their day in court.

In a lawsuit filed in 2013, Michael and Myra Cerny claim that oil drilling near their Karnes county residence has caused numerous health issues and made their home unlivable. The case was thrown out last year by Judge Stella Saxson who ruled the family did not prove their allegations that gas emissions caused the family’s issues.

All parties are back in court hoping to persuade the three-judge panel that the Cerny family deserves a jury trial.

Macy Stokes, one of the attorneys representing Marathon Oil and Plains Exploration, argued that nothing has changed since the August ruling and that,

“They still have to prove causation, that the emissions caused this inconvenience, that the emissions actually made it to their property and inconvenienced them.”

Other recent Texas legal battles between oil companies and mineral owners include a case before the Texas Supreme Court last month where Chesapeake challenges a 2014 Appeals Court ruling that would cost them at least $1million. At the heart of the case is the property owners (Hyders) allegations that Chesapeake improperly deducted money from their royalty checks to cover post-production costs.

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Eagle Ford Rig Count Increases

May 15, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

EFS Rigs Decrease — Eagle Ford Rig Count Increases

For the first time in months, the Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased this week. My midday Friday, there were 125 rigs running across our coverage area.

In recent Eagle Ford news, Houston-based Noble Energy announced plans to get into the shale business by acquiring independent producer, Rosetta Resources.

The U.S. rig count fell by six, ending with 888 rigs running by midday Friday. A total of 223 rigs were targeting natural gas (an increase of two from the previous week) and 660 were targeting oil in the U.S. (eight less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)373 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 in the Eagle Ford increased to 23 this week and natural gas prices traded at $3.02/mmbtu, an increase of $.14 from the previous week.

The oil rig count stayed flat at 101. WTI oil prices continued to inch upwards this week to $59.51, an increase of $.12. A total of 115 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, two rigs are drilling directional wells, and vertical rigs stayed at eight. Karnes and Webb counties are both running 19 rigs this week with DeWitt (17) and LaSalle (16) following closely. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale News

Sanchez Energy Reports Strong Q1

Chesapeake Energy Reveals Huge Q1 Loss

Texas Quakes Strike Again

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