Noble energy Plans for Job Cuts

September 29, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

Noble Energy joins many other Eagle Ford producers who are cutting jobs in order to streamline operations.

Noble executives commented to the Houston Chronicle that the company will initiate a fourth round of layoffs by the end of the year. The cuts will be in the exploration sector in order for the company to refocus efforts on production.

“We are working through the process and expect workforce reductions to be limited.”

— Noble spokeswoman Reba Reid

Since the bottom began to fall out of the oil and gas industry 19 months ago, more than 102,000 jobs have been cut from every sector. The Texas Workforce Commission has recorded approximately 5585 Texas layoffs in the oil and gas industry since January. The job loss rate slowed in June and in July, 100 jobs were added. Karr Ingham for the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers says that that the job loss rate in the industry slowed in June. Karr estimated about 900 jobs cut by oil and gas companies, compared to the thousands lost in January and February.

Noble entered the Eagle Ford in July 2015 with the purchase of Rosetta Resources for $2.1 billion, which had 50,000 acres in the South Texas’s Eagle Ford basin and 56,000 acres in the West Texas’s Permian basin.

Newfield Exits the Eagle Ford

September 28, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

Newfield exits the Lone Start State as they sell off their remaining assets in the Eagle Ford.

Related: Newfield to Sell

Newfield Exploration Company announced yesterday that they closed a $380 million transaction to sell its producing oil and gas properties and undeveloped acreage in Texas, including their Eagle Ford Shale holdings.

The deal also included conventional natural gas assets in south and west Texas. Combined daily production for all assets sold was approximately 12,700 BOEPD, of which approximately 35% was oil.

The Eagle Ford assets were sold to Protégé Energy III LLC., an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company website states they strive to achieve strong rates of return from investments in U.S. shale and conventional plays – all in a safe, ethical, and environmentally responsible manner.

Newfield announced the sale in August as a way to replenish their cash flow after a second quarter loss of $667 million. Stock for the Woodlands-based company fell 3.87% Tuesday to $39.50.

“Newfield said while today’s transactions with Protege Energy III llc won’t have a material impact on its Q3 operations or financial results, the deal likely will reduce its FY16 production totals and said it will update its outlook for the rest of the year when it reports its Q3 financial results in about four weeks. ”

— source: nasdaq.com

Newfield made the news earlier this year when they were the target of oil thieves. Three men were taken into custody after admitting to stealing oil from Newfield and Anadarko between January 2011 and August 2014.

Fracking in Mexico’s Eagle Ford Could Begin Next Year

September 27, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

**EIA Mexico Eagle Ford Shale Map | Click to Enlarge**

Mexico looks to begin fracking program sometime next year after attracting over $22 billion in U.S. energy investments from 59 different companies.

At a gather of energy executives this week at Rice University, Mexico’s Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquín Coldwell told the group that the government will likely be ready to begin fracking for oil and gas early in 2017.

Mexico has a collection of rich shale fields just across the border from the Eagle Ford Shale Play in Texas, with billions of gallons of shale oil waiting to be fracked. For the first time in generations, the Mexican government is opening up its oil and gas fields to foreign investors after passing historic energy reforms in 2014.

The reforms came just before crude prices tanked, sending Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company spiraling downward.

“Pemex finances are really suffering,” Coldwell said. “They’ve taken a huge blow.”

— Fuelfix

Since the reforms, Mexico has secured $22.4 billion in energy investments including $10 billion for 10,000 kilometers of pipelines, $7 billion in exploration and production and $2.5 billion for new seismic maps to track oil and gas reserves.

As the industry stabilizes, there will be a great opportunity for collaboration between businesses that operate in the Eagle Ford Shale and Mexico.

BHP Accused of Not Paying Minimum Wage

September 26, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

**Minimum Wage Lawsuit Against Eagle Ford Operators**

Australian-based BHP has been hit with a lawsuit from workers claiming underpayment of the minimum wage and overtime, according to Australian news sources.

Related: BHP in the Eagle Ford

Linda Cox, a former gate guard at BHP’s Dilworth Ranch in McMullen County, filed a class action lawsuit against Chapa Gate Guard Service, BHP Billion and BHP Billiton Petroleum. Cox alleges that the three companies violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 by paying her less than the minimum wage in addition to not paying overtime penalties and failing to record all of the time she worked.

Cox worked as a guard from October 2012 to July 2014. In addition to opening and closing gates and completing gate access logs, she and other guards were ‘on call’ 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They were even required to live on the premises.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 has set the legal minimum wage for workers in the United States at $7.25per hour.

The Australian Financial Review also says that workers filed a similar action against Chapa and Chesapeake Energy, claiming companies withheld overtime pay and ignored minimum wags laws.

BHP entered the Eagle Ford Shale Ply in 2011 when the company acquired Petrohawk for over $12 billion.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Stalls 4 Weeks in a Row

September 23, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

Eagle Ford Operators Put Rigs Back Online

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count was unchanged this week, making it the fourth week in a row ending with44 rigs running across our coverage area.

In recent Eagle Ford news, industry leaders gathered in San Antonio last week for the Hart Energy DUG Eagle Ford conference and exhibition, where conversation and presentations centered around the status of the Eagle Ford Shale outside of the boom.

A total of 510 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, a decrease of 1 from last week of two. 92 rigs targeted natural gas (three more than the previous week) and 418 were targeting oil in the U.S. (two more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 246 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

Six rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $2.96/mmbtu.

The Eagle Ford rigs targeting oil were at 40 with WTI oil prices gaining $1.45 to $44.48 .

A total of 40 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero is drilling directional wells and four are vertical.

Karnes County slipped from the number one spot this week dropping to six rigs. LaSalle leads production with seven rigs in operation. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale News

Abraxas Sells Assets to Focus on Shale

Eagle Ford Shale Play Still Holds Great Value

Eagle Ford Drilling & Completion Report

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.