Former Oilfield Workers Look to New Careers

May 31, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

Former Eagle Ford oilfield workers turn to law enforcement after work in the oil patch dries up.

After months of low crude prices and tens of thousands of layoffs, many oilfield workers are scrambling to find other work and some are deciding on police work, according to the San Antonio Biz Journal.

At the height of the boom, it wasn’t uncommon to see police officers hanging up their guns for the better paying jobs in the oil patch. But these days, those lucrative jobs in the Eagle Ford have dried up and last year at least three former oilfield workers graduated from the Alamo Area Regional Law Enforcement Academy.

Police academy instructor Jose Robledo is not surprised to receive displaced workers from the oil industry, noting that law enforcement is steady work in an uncertain economy. In addition to the two oil field workers, Robledo said this past graduating class included a mix of ages, experiences and careers ranging from recent college graduates to ex-military personnel to mothers looking to start second careers.

Biz Journal

The Alamo Regional Law Enforcement Academy moved into a new home last year after receiving some $2.5 million in donations. The new 20,700-square foot facility allows the to expand its operations to include more classrooms and training space. The facility also houses AACOG’s Homeland Security, Regional 9-1-1, and Criminal Justice Planning programs.

Nearly 100,000 U.S. workers lost their jobs in the oil and gas extraction and supporting segments between October 2014 and January this year. More than half of those were in Texas, according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor.

Happy Memorial Day 2016

May 30, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

Wishing you a safe and happy Memorial Day.

Please take a minute today to remember those who sacrificed so much for our quality of life.

One veteran’s perspective on what this day means to him.

Eagle Ford Rig Count Slips by One

May 27, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count fell by one this week, ending with31 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford news, Earthstone Energy executives express optimism that they can increase their Eagle Ford activity this summer as crude prices continue to move higher.

A total of 403 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, down nine from last week. 87 were targeting natural gas (two more than the previous week) and 316 were targeting oil in the U.S. (two less that the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 173 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 dropped to three this week as natural gas prices climb to $2.17/mmbtu.

The Eagle Ford rigs targeting oil stayed flat at 28 with WTI oil prices climbing to $49.27, a $1.28 increase this week. A total of 30 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells, and one are vertical rigs.

Karnes County leads development in the region with 8 rigs running 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

Earthstone Energy Looks to Resume Eagle Ford Activity

EnerVest Grabs Eagle Ford Assets for $1.3 Billion

Kinder Morgan: Eagle Ford Production Down 28%

Texas Royalty Owners Win $52.5 Million

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.

Texas Royalty Owners Win $52.5 Million

May 26, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

Chesapeake Energy and Total E&P have agreed to pay $52.5 million to landowners who were cheated out of natural gas royalties.

The two energy companies announced on Monday that they will settle lawsuits filed by 13,000 property owners on Tarrant and Johnson counties.

“We are pleased to have reached a mutually acceptable resolution of this legacy issue and look forward to further strengthening our relationships with our royalty owners,” Chesapeake spokesman Gordon Pennoyer said in a prepared statement.

Chesapeake is ordered to pay $29.3 million, with Tootal paying $13.1 million in cash. Chesapeake will pay another $10 million in three years.

McDonald law firm and Cicelli, Walter & Young represent the plaintiffs, who must still approve the deal by a vast majority (90%). Payments will vary based on production and lease language and will likely range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

In April, Chesapeake Energy revealed they would pay the Fort Worth School District $1 million in royalties after reaching an out-of-court settlement from a 2014 case where the school district. The company had improperly deducted expenses from royalties owed to the district and its taxpayers.

Kinder Morgan: Eagle Ford Production Down 28%

May 25, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

**Kinder Morgan Releases First Quarter Earnings**

Kinder Morgan has lowered its 2016 guidance due to a 28% decline in production from their Eagle Ford shale assets.

In an earnings call last week, Kinder Morgan chief executive Steve Kean reported a good first quarter with cash flows in excess of $1.2 billion plus a reduction in their growth capital backlog from $18.2 billion at the end of the fourth quarter 2015 to $14.1.

Kinder Morgan’s combined oil production across all of our fields was down 7% in the first quarter, averaging 56.4 MBbl/d, down 6 percent from 59.8 MBbl/d for the same period in 2015.

The Houston-based company lowered its overall 2016 earnings guidance by 3%, attributing over half of that to the declines in the Eagle Ford volumes.

“While Eagle Ford volumes declined overall, and we are projecting declines on our assets going forward, we have seen volumes grow on our KMCC (Kinder Morgan Crude and Condensate) pipeline,” Kean said. The 300,000 b/d line, which carries Eagle Ford liquids to the Gulf coast, is starting to see volumes slow. “We think we’ve just started to see some flattening on that pipeline, but what we’ve done on this pipe is essentially grow our market share.”