Oilfield Waste is Still Big Business

Chesapeake Released 2015 Q1
Milestone Adds to its Eagle Ford Portfolio

One waste management company is adding to their assets in the Eagle Ford region of South Texas and plans for further expansion in 2016.

Related: Natural Gas Will be a Boom for Eagle Ford Companies

In the middle of the downturn, many operators and oil and gas service industries are shrinking, but Milestone Environmental Services, LLC announced this week that it will expand.

Milestone has acquired an oilfield waste facility currently under construction near Smiley, in Gonzalez County, Texas through a newly-formed subsidiary with Intervale Capital.

Houston-based Milestone manages oilfield waste through their state-of-the-art disposal facilities. The company already has an extensive footprint in the Eagle Ford region that includes four injection locations, with two other locations in Katy and Jasper, Texas.

The Smiley transaction marks the successful completion of the first stage of Milestone’s geographic expansion.
— Tuan Tran, Partner at Intervale

Acquisitions have become an attractive growth option for Milestone. Even in the middle of the downturn, the company believes that waste management in the oilfield is underserved. In a separate press release, the company announced plans to fund acquisitions throughout 2016.

We recognize we are pursuing a contrarian strategy to build service capacity during the worst downturn in a couple decades. We want to put capacity in places where the industry needs it. We can do this with good returns today that should be excellent down the road when the market recovers.
— President and CEO Gabriel Rio

Abraxas' Leadership Team Cuts Pay

Chesapeake Cuts Budget for 2015
Abraxas Leadership Team Takes Pay Cut

The leadership team of Abraxas Petroleum is following the example of their CEO by voluntarily cutting their fees in a drastic measure to stay afloat.

Related: Abraxas Chief Slashes Salary

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week, the executive officers of Abraxas announced that they will take a voluntary reduction in salary of 20%, effective February 1, 2016. Also taking cuts will be Abraxas employees who meet certain salary thresholds and the Board of Directors, who have agreed to take a 20% reduction in their fees.

In September, 2015, Abraxas' president and CEO, Robert Watson voluntarily cut his salary by 20 percent due to stressful market conditions. This was in the middle of a rough quarter where Abraxas posted a net loss of $52.4 million  and the company’s production fell to 552,000 barrels of oil equivalent from 645,000 barrels.

Things changed drastically since 2014, when the company reported its best year on record and compensated Robert Watson over $900,000.

2016 has gotten off to a rough start as the Eagle Ford rig count continued its decline, ending last week with only 74 rigs running across the area. Analysts are predicting that the Eagle Ford will lead the pack for huge losses in early 2016.

Read more: Eagle Ford Headed for Big Losses

Abraxas currently operates on ~10,891 net Eagle Ford acres in Atascosa, McMullen, DeWitt and Lavaca counties.

Access the SEC filing here

Eagle Ford Oil Thief Behind Bars

Chesapeake Before Texas High Court
Texas oil theft

One Eagle Ford oil thief is now behind bars and two of his buddies are soon to follow.

Related: Oil Theft Climbs in the Eagle Ford

Last Wednesday, United States District Judge Alia Moses sentenced Juan Martin Bernal of Eagle Pass to 21 months in federal prison for his role in stealing $1.4 million in Eagle Ford Shale oil. Bernal was one of three defendants who pleaded guilty to one count of theft from an interstate shipment.

As part of his sentence, Bernal will also be required to pay a monetary judgment of $150,000 and will be placed on supervised release for a period of three years after completing his prison term.

Last year, Bernal and two co-defendants, 26-year-old Carlos Samuel Pena of Del Rio and 38-year-old Victor Manuel Guerra, Jr., the owner of Las Lomas Vacuum Services and AVG Vacuum Services in Laredo, pleaded guilty to one count of theft from an interstate shipment.

Bernal and two co-defendants--26–year-old Carlos Samuel Pena of Del Rio and 38-year-old Victor Manuel Guerra, Jr., admitted that between January 2011 and August 2014, they devised a scheme to steal oil from Newfield Exploration Company, and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.

Guerra owned Las Lomas Vacuum Services and AVG Vacuum Services in Laredo and the trio used his wastewater removal trucks to transport the stolen oil. The oil was transported to Guerra’s property where he would sell the stolen product to third-party buyers who paid for the oil by wire transfer.

Guerra and Pena face up to ten years in federal prison. Guerra’s sentencing is April 25 and Pena’s is June 20. Both are scheduled to appear in Del Rio before Moses.

The case relied on an army of local, state and federal officials who were involved in the investigation including the FBI, the IRS Service Criminal Investigation, the Texas Attorney General’s Special Investigations Unit, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers, the Dimmit County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Railroad Commission.

In December,Texas lawmakers met in Austin to discuss the growing problem of oil theft in the Texas oil patch and to craft a bill that would increase the penalties for the crime. This is likely to be one of the top energy issues for the next legislative session in 2017, as lawmakers aim to send Abbott an anti-theft bill he can stomach.

House Speaker Joe Straus asked lawmakers to “Examine whether current statutes are adequate for the successful prosecution of oilfield theft. Consider the potential economic impact of increasing penalties for oil and gas theft and make recommendations establishing an effective law enforcement response.

Eagle Ford Rig Count Drops to 74

Eagle Ford Rig Count
Eagle Ford Rig Counts

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count declined by four this week ending with 74 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford news, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that in 2017, natural gas exports will surpass imports for the first time since 1955. With hundreds of miles of natural gas pipelines heading from the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast, the liquefied natural gas industry is poised to deliver the majority of those exports.

Read more:Natural Gas Will be a Boom for Eagle Ford Companies

A total of 637 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week. 127 were targeting natural gas (eight less than the previous week) and 510 were targeting oil in the U.S. (five less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)294 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 below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Natural gas rigs in the Eagle Ford are at two this week as natural gas prices dipped, trading at $2.14/mmbtu, a $.04 increase from the previous week.

The Eagle Ford oil rig count fell to 72 with WTI oil prices ending the week at $32.19, an increase of $2.77. A total of 72 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells, and six are vertical rigs. Karnes County leads the region in development with 18 rigs this week. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale News

Eagle Ford Counties Lead Production

Iranian Oil and Crude Prices

BHP Writes Down Billions

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

Eagle Ford Counties Lead Production

Eagle Ford Drilling Permits: January 2016
Eagle Ford Drilling Permits: January 2016

Eagle Ford Counties still rank highest in Texas production, according to the Texas Railroad Commission.

Related: Natural Gas Will be a Boom for Eagle Ford Companies

Looking to the future, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted that volumes from the seven major shale regions in the U.S. will drop by 116,000 barrels a day in February with the Eagle Ford having the biggest losses. That’s more oil than OPEC’s Ecuador or Libya produced last year on average.

Today, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) released production rates for December 2015 showing that, while production is indeed down, the Eagle Ford counties producing more in all three categories.

11/2014

11/2015

 Total 2014

 Total 2015

 Oil (bbls)

86,464,573

70,969,209

975,786,334

 916,324,950

Gas (mcf)

719,146,191

 596,523,14

 8,640,146,433

 7,601,909,862

Eagle Ford's Karnes County is still in the number one spot for the greatest production of crude in the state, pumping out 6,052,467 (BBLS) in November with LaSalle falling second with 4,517,919 barrels. For natural gas, Webb County is on top with the RRC reporting they produced 54,004,171 MCF in November. And for condensates, the top four counties were all from the Eagle Ford:

1.

DIMMIT

2,075,906

2.

WEBB

1,312,117

3.

KARNES

1,133,619

4.

DEWITT

1,045,196

In December the RRC issued a total of 727 original drilling permits compared to 1,506 in December 2014.  The breakdown of well types for those permits issued December 2015 included 159 oil, 42 gas, 440 oil or gas, 54 injection, two service and 30 other permits. 87 of those permits were issued to producers in the Eagle Ford region of the state.

For more information go to rrc.texas.gov