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Frio County Eagle Ford Shale Info

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:13:07 +0000

As you can see from the map below, the Eagle Ford Shale in Frio county lies outside of the “volatile oil” and “wet gas and condensate” windows of the play. These two areas are where the most intense new oil and gas drilling activity is occurring in the Eagle Ford Shale formation. The Eagle Ford Shale in Frio county has a lower GOR ratio or “gas to oil ratio,” meaning that there is less natural gas pressure in the formation to help force valuable liquids such as crude oil and condensate out into the wellbore. Thus Frio county shale wells tend to have lower IP or initial production rates and lower EUR rates (estimated ultimate recovery,) than oil and gas wells to the south and east in the over pressured part of the Eagle Ford Shale. That being said however, Frio County has and will continue be an important area in terms of oil and gas drilling. A number of formations are prospective for hydrocarbons in Frio county, such as the Eagle Ford Shale, Austin Chalk and Pearsall Shale formations. Since the depth of the Eagle Ford shale in Frio County ranges from just over 4000′ in northern Frio County to around 8000′ in the southern end of the county, drilling costs are lower than in the southern and eastern parts of the play. Companies active in Frio county oil and gas exploration include Cabot Oil and Gas, El Paso E&P, Texas American Resources Co., Cheyenne Petroleum, EF Energy, Blackbrush Oil and Gas, Goodrich Petroleum, Maverick Energy Group, Dan A Hughes Co., Chesapeake Operating and Hess Corporation.

Oilfield Activity Around Pearsall Texas

Anyone who has recently traveled between the town of Pearsall (the county seat of Frio county,) and Cotulla on IH-35, may have noticed that there are dozens of new oil and gas businesses in that area. Pearsall had a population of around 7000 residents according to the 2001 census, however judging from the number of new businesses, the traffic on area roads and from all the new construction, the population of Frio county has most likely climbed in the past couple of years. The Frio county government is currently dealing with increased wear and tear on area roads. So far no per – well fee has been imposed on oil and gas companies to offset road and bridge wear in Frio County, but one may be considered if the amount of drilling activity picks up. (Click On Maps To Enlarge)

Many of the oil wells (green dots,) seen on the map above are old Austin Chalk wells. Most of the ones that you see on this map were drilled in the late 1980s to 1990s and have been plugged. These wells featured a very short lateral (horizontal wellbore) or two, but generally nothing in terms of the lateral length that is possible today. The technology required to horizontally drill and hydraulically fracture the Austin chalk and Eagle Ford Shale formations simply did not exist back then in the same form that it does today. After completion, many of these wells came in as so-called “barn burners,” since their large gas flares burned for days. Some of the first Austin Chalk wells in Frio county produced hundreds of barrels of oil per day. Some oil company insiders referred to these high IP (initial production,) wells as “doctor wells” because the high IP results were so good at helping lure new investors such as physicians. Sadly for both the investors and the oil companies, Frio county Austin Chalk wells did not last more than a few weeks or months before depleting to a barrel or two of oil per day. During this flurry of oil and gas production in Frio County, a number of oil and gas gathering lines and transmission pipelines were constructed to transport Austin Chalk production to market. Pipelines built for Austin Chalk production, such as the Harvest Pipeline Company’s Pearsall Mainline, are now being used to transport Eagle Ford Shale production eastward to refineries such as Valero’s in Three Rivers.

(Click On Map To Enlarge)

What’s in store for Frio county in terms of Eagle Ford Shale drilling? Right now oil and gas companies such as Chesapeake Energy and EOG Resources are scrambling to drill high IP and high EUR wells in the volatile oil and wet gas windows of the EFS, (to keep share prices high and fund new drilling activity with high production wells,) in addition to hold leases about to expire. Oil and gas E&P companies will balance the need to drill Eagle Ford Shale wells in Frio County with their overall objectives in the greater Eagle Ford shale play. Some leases are held by production from older Austin Chalk and other oil and gas wells, therefore there is no rush to drill on those leases. Frio county is about 1,134 square miles in size, or approximately 725,760 acres. Potentially productive Eagle Ford shale lies beneath more than half of this area, so Frio county will most likely be in the game for many years to come, as hundreds more oil and gas wells are drilled over the coming decades. As natural gas prices rise, interest in drilling the Pearsall shale will return. The Pearsall shale, a large formation containing primarily dry natural gas, also lies under much of Frio County in addition to the Eagle Ford shale.

For the office of the Frio County Clerk, law enforcement, and Tax Appraisal District, see the Frio County Government Web Site

Zavala County Eagle Ford Shale Info

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:07:25 +0000

Oil and gas drilling activity in the Zavala county portion of the Eagle Ford Shale play has diminished in recent months with the primary focus of activity being farther to the south in counties such as Dimmit and LaSalle. Those counties have a much larger footprint in the “wet gas and condensate” and “volatile oil windows” of the play. Most of the county of Zavala lies in the “heavy oil” portion of the Eagle Ford Shale, which is part of the Maverick Basin. Here the GOR or “gas to oil ratio” is lower, meaning there is less natural gas in the formation to help release oil from the tight pore structure of the rock. Currently this part of the shale is not being as sought after, as higher producing wells are being made in the over – pressured sections of the play to the south and east, where the GOR ratio is higher. Last year Petrohawk Energy (which was acquired by BHP Billiton,) considered the Red Hawk field in Zavala county one of the company’s “crown jewels”. Red Hawk has all but been abandoned as far as drilling activity is concerned. This began when Petrohawk Energy began to run out of operating capital. No doubt there will be renewed interest in the heavy oil portion of the Eagle Ford shale in Zavala and Maverick from the major players, but for now, if the exploration company has “volatile oil” or “wet gas” acreage to drill, that’s where their rigs are going to go. So far the Texas Railroad Commission has issued approximately 40 permits for horizontal Eagle Ford Shale wells in Zavala County in 2012 (as of April 26.) The primary oil and gas exploration companies who are drilling in Zavala include Chesapeake Operating, CML Exploration, Eagleford Energy Inc, Hess Corporation, Matador Production Company, Petrohawk Operating and Dan A Hughes Co.

Map of Zavala County Eagle Ford Shale. (Click On Any Of The Images Below To View At Full Size.)

Below, map of Petrohawk’s Red Hawk Field.

For many years Crystal City was known as the “Spinach Capital Of The World.” “Wintergarden” vegetable farms around the area still produce much of the nation’s supply of Popeye’s favorite vegetable. Crystal City has not completely taken on the feel of an “oilfield town” just yet, as has Carrizo Springs, located in Dimmit County just a few miles to the south. There is however a noticeable increase in the amount of traffic on area roads and a number of new businesses such as RV parks in southern Zavala County. One such new park is the Caza Ranch RV park, which can be seen below, located on the Big Wells Highway, just south of Crystal City.

Below is a map from the Texas Railroad Commission showing some of the drilling activity in Zavala County, south of Crystal City.

What’s in store for Zavala County in terms of Eagle Ford Shale drilling? Although Zavala county Eagle Ford shale wells typically have lower EUR (Estimated Ultimate Recovery) and lower IP (Initial Production) rates, they are cheaper to drill, since the formation lies at around 4000′. There is no doubt that the major oil and gas companies will return to the county in earnest at some point. In Zavala county there exists favorable geology for “stacked pay” opportunities, with the Escondido, Olmos, San Miguel, Anacacho, Austin Chalk, Eagle Ford shale, Buda and Georgetown formations prospective for hydrocarbons. Currently some companies with leases in Zavala County may let the primary term of the lease expire and pay landowners an additional bonus payment to hold the acreage for a couple more years until they can shift rigs back in this direction. Some of the Eagle Ford Shale acreage in Zavala County is held by production from older oil and gas wells. We may see more drilling activity in Zavala County in the latter part of this year as oil and gas companies drill to hold acreage on larger parcels where they may find it too costly to pay extra lease bonus payments to hold the land for a couple more years.

Bee County Eagle Ford Shale Info

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:42:44 +0000

Although one of the hottest areas of the Eagle Ford shale play, the “wet gas and condensate window” only reaches a few miles into Bee county, economically this is a very important area in terms of providing vital resources and services to the oil and gas industry. After many years of experiencing minor oil and gas booms and busts, Beeville Texas is quickly becoming a major oilfield hub for the region. Numerous oilfield service companies have opened new satellite offices in and around Beeville, Pawnee and Pettus, TX. According to the Texas Railroad Commission, there have been less than a dozen permits issued for new Eagle Ford Shale wells in Bee County so far this year, (as of April 22, 2012.) Oil and gas companies with operations in Bee county Texas include Talisman Energy USA, Petrohawk Operating, Pioneer Natural Resources and Burlington Resources Oil and Gas. In addition to oil and gas well permits, there have been permits issued to Complete Vacuum and Rental Inc, Mego Resources LLC and Fields Exploration Inc for saltwater disposal wells in Bee County. As you can see in the map below, the depth of the Eagle Ford shale in Bee County ranges from more than 11,000′ near the Karnes and Live Oak county lines, to over 14,000′ in the lower half of the county.

Click On Image To Enlarge

Below is a photo of a well just inside the Bee county line, east of Three Rivers, Texas.

Overall the Eagle Ford shale oil and gas discovery is helping to boost the economy of Bee County, yet there are major issues that must be dealt with. One of these issues is that of wear and tear on roads and bridges in county. Recently the Bee County Commissioner’s Court approved a $9,500 fee to be levied against the largest oil and gas companies for each new Eagle Ford Shale well drilled. The purpose of this new fee is to help offset the county’s maintenance expenses for repairing roads and bridges. Although this new fee may help pay for some of the road damage in Bee County being caused by Eagle Ford Shale drilling, it will not pay for all of it. The new road and bridge fee does not address the issue of companies using state and county roads to move equipment across Bee, to wells being drilled in other counties. Below is a photo of trucks hauling frac sand near the Bee County line. Road such as State Highway 72 are beginning to show major signs of wear and tear, as potholes appear faster than TXDOT workers can patch them. With the huge Texas budget deficit, TXDOT has been slow in responding to the critical road situation in South Texas. There has so far been very little in the way of new funds for local Highway Department districts to use for road repair and expansion.

Click to View This Photo In Larger Size

What’s in store for Bee County in terms of the Eagle Ford Shale? As long as oil prices stay high we will see more drilling occurring in the “wet gas and condensate” portion of the county. Most of the Eagle Ford shale in Bee County is situated in the “dry gas window” of the play. Other than to keep leases from expiring on large ranches, there has been very little activity in this portion of the Eagle Ford Shale. This will most likely change as natural gas prices eventually do rise again. Vast amounts of natural gas lie beneath Bee, as well as other counties with a footprint in the “dry gas window.”

Dimmit County Eagle Ford Shale Info

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:08:42 +0000

The western part of the Eagle Ford shale play, in counties such as Dimmit and Zavala, has not received as much media attention as the eastern side. Despite this however, Dimmit county is the currently epicenter of a frenzy of oil and gas drilling activity. Carrizo Springs is the county seat and the largest city in Dimmit County, Texas. Carrizo Springs is quickly becoming a regional oilfield hub, as oil and gas service companies open up satellite offices there. There are scores of newly opened oilfield businesses in Carrizo Springs, along with heavy traffic on area roads. A veritable flood of oil and gas royalty income is beginning to pour into the hands of some fortunate owners of large ranches, such as the Briscoe family, as well as benefiting smaller landholders. Oil and gas companies drilling in Dimmit County include Anadarko E&P, Chesapeake Operating, Newfield Exploration, Shell Western E&P, Rosetta Resources, El Paso E&P, Lewis Petro Properties and Murphy Exploration and Production. According to the Texas Railroad Commission, more than 300 new drilling permits have been issued for Dimmit County since the first of 2012. (As of April 22.) There is no sign of oil and gas drilling in Dimmit County letting up anytime soon, since the core “liquids rich” part of the Eagle Ford Shale runs right through the heart of the area. As you can see in the contour map of the Eagle Ford Shale below, the depth of the Eagle Ford runs from just over 4000′ along the Zavala County line, to over 8000′ near the Webb County line.

Click On Any of the Images below to View at Full Size

Below, the small town of Big Wells is living up to its name as rigs drilling Eagle Ford Shale “gushers” can be seen from almost anywhere in town. The small town was named for large Carrizo – Wilcox water wells, which were used to irrigate crops such as onions and cabbage. Now that same water is in high demand from oil companies, who use it to frac new Eagle Ford Shale wells in Dimmit county. Oilfield businesses in Dimmit County are thriving and creating many new jobs for area residents. Second Photo: The new offices of Flexpipe Systems, a new oilfield business in Big Wells Texas, which specializes in providing water line and pipe to the oil industry.

Money from the oil and gas industry that is flowing into Dimmit County may help to uplift some of the more impoverished areas of the county. Small migrant worker shacks, such as this one in Big Wells Texas, are being bulldozed down to make room for new oilfield businesses, housing and RV parks. This oil boom is not without its problems however. The government of Dimmit County is finding it hard to keep county roads maintained and keep up with the demand for classroom space for children of oilfield workers and other issues. The population of Dimmit County has long hovered around 10,000 people, yet according to some estimates that figure has nearly doubled in the past three years.

Click On Photos To View At Full Size

Below, an old longhorn cow near the county line may be wondering if there will be any water left for her after Eagle Ford shale drilling in Dimmit county is done.

In the next image, an oilfield gate guard checks in visitors to a new Eagle Ford shale well location.

Below, a steady stream of traffic flows along State Hwy 85 between Big Wells and Carrizo Springs. On the hill in the far distance is a new oilfield business specializing in saltwater disposal from Eagle Ford Shale wells in Dimmit and Zavala counties.

There will be some reduction in the amount of oil tanker traffic across the Eagle Ford Shale play as new pipelines come online this summer. However, overall oilfield traffic will most likely continue for many years to come as thousands more wells are drilled. Dimmit County consists of 1,334 square miles, or about 853,760 acres. With some oil and gas companies experimenting with well spacing of the small as 40 acres in the Eagle Ford Shale, there will no doubt be thousands more wells drilled in Dimmit and surrounding counties.

DeWitt County Eagle Ford Leading The Way

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:54:37 +0000

As of today, some of the highest producing Eagle Ford Shale wells have been made in DeWitt County. This area of the play has some of the most favorable geology for thousand barrel – per – day plus wells, such as the Dlugosch A
Well # 1H drilled recently by Geosouthern Energy Corporation just southeast of Westhoff, and the Klaevemann Unit A Well # 1 drilled by Burlington Oil and Gas northwest of Yorktown. (Note that high IP or initial production figures of new Eagle Ford shale wells rarely hold for more than a few months before falling off.) Wells in the Sugarkane and Blackhawk fields, which span part of DeWitt, Karnes and Gonzales county, are producing high volumes of condensate and high gravity oil, as well as natural gas. Below is a photo of a new Eagle Ford Shale well in DeWitt County just northwest of Cuero.

Click On Any of the Photos Below To View At Full Size

Oil and gas exploration companies who are drilling the Eagle Ford shale in DeWitt County include Burlington Resources Oil and Gas, (a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips,) Talisman Energy USA Incorporated, EOG Resources, Marathon Oil, Geosouthern Energy Corporation, Petrohawk Operating Company, Pioneer Natural Resources, Rosetta Resources, Matador Production Company and Chesapeake Operating. Since the first of 2012, more than 125 new permits have been issued by the Texas Railroad Commission for new horizontal Eagle Ford shale wells in DeWitt county Texas. In 2011 Marathon purchased 141,000 acres from Hilcorp Resources for $3.5 billion. Some of the acreage acquired by Marathon Oil in that purchase from Hilcorp was in DeWitt county.

Below is a photo of a drilling rig in northwestern DeWitt County, near the small community of Hochiem. The prairie around Hochiem once attracted many German, Czech and Polish immigrants because of the high quality grazing and farmland it offered. Now the rich Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas play is attracting investors from across the globe. The landscape of rural DeWitt County around communities such as Gruenau, Garfield, Westhoff and Yorktown will be forever changed by this incredible oil and gas discovery.

Some oil and gas companies drilling in DeWitt County Texas are not waiting for natural gas pipelines to reach new wells before beginning production of liquids. Since natural gas prices are depressed and the price of oil and natural gas liquids is at an all-time high, some operators are using trailer mounted flare units, such as the one seen below, to flare off large volumes of natural gas. In doing so, thousands of barrels of oil and NGLs can be recovered quickly to pay for the well, boost shareholder earnings and make investor presentations look good. Such flaring of natural gas by producers in the Eagle Ford, Bakken and other shale plays, has been met with protest from some investors. Recently a letter was sent to several oil and gas companies, including Chesapeake Energy, Continental Resources, and ExxonMobil, from a group of 36 private and institutional investors representing over $500 billion in assets. (Source: Reuters News.) The letter voiced concerns over environmental issues and lost revenue from prematurely producing liquids from newly drilled shale wells before natural gas pipelines were completed. Nevertheless, the practice of flaring large volumes of natural gas so that liquids can be recovered from Eagle Ford Shale wells before pipelines are finished is not likely to end anytime soon. Natural gas prices are severely depressed due to oversupply (coming from shale discoveries such as the Eagle Ford and Marcellus shale,) and are likely to remain below $3.00 per MMBTu for many months to come. (See natural gas price forecast chart from the EIA below.)

Click On Image To View At Full Size

Please visit our site soon for more updates and photos of Eagle Ford Shale drilling activity in DeWitt County.

Karnes County Eagle Ford Shale Photos

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:27:14 +0000

Oil and gas drilling activity is continuing to pick up across Karnes County Texas. This is one of the core areas of the Eagle Ford Shale, since it straddles the oil and condensate window or “sweet spot” of the play. There have been around 245 permits issued since the first of the year by the Texas Railroad Commission for new horizontal Eagle Ford Shale wells in Karnes County. Oil and gas companies that are drilling wells in the Karnes County Eagle Ford shale include Pioneer Natural Resources, Talisman Energy, Marathon Oil, Plains Exploration, Paloma Resources, EOG Resources, Petrohawk, Murphy Exploration and Production, Crimson Exploration And Matador Production Company. The Eagle Ford Shale in Karnes County Texas offers some of the most productive rock in the entire play. Wells such as EOG Resource’s Deleon-Reinhard Unit #1H, which produced 2,235 barrels of oil and 1.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day (IP or initial production,) help to make investor presentations look very good. Those who have not visited Karnes City in a few years might not recognize the place because of all the new business activity and traffic. Across Karnes County rigs drilling Eagle Ford Shale wells stand like exclamation points, proclaiming the new oil discovery.

Below is a map of the Eagle Ford Shale play showing Karnes County’s location in the oil and condensate window.

Click on the map below to view at full size.

Below are some recent photos taken in Eagle Ford Shale in and around Karnes county Texas. Below is a photo of a natural gas flare burning off H2S gas at night on a well just south of the Atascosa county line. Normally the small farm to market road seen in the photo below (on the right,) would be clogged with oilfield traffic. This photo however was taken on Easter Sunday.

Click on any of the images below to view full-size.

Below is a photo of a brand-new Weatherford pumpjack on an Eagle Ford Shale well in Karnes County. Some new wells drilled in the oil and condensate window of the play will produce oil for a while on their own, before a pumpjack must be installed. Most pumpjacks in the Eagle Ford shale are powered by electric motors, which offer greater reliability and less maintenance than natural gas powered pumpjack engines. The downside is that there is not enough electricity available for new well sites, and pumping units must be placed on a portable generator, such as the one seen below. The power grid across much of the Eagle Ford Shale was installed many years ago as part of the Rural Electrification Project initiated by Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson. It was never designed to supply millions of watts of power to oil wells, compressor stations, saltwater disposal wells, and other such energy hogging infrastructure. Some rural residents in South Texas are already reporting brownouts and power surges due to heavy demands placed on old lines. Power companies such as Medina Electric and South Texas Electric Cooperative are building literally dozens of new electric substations and laying new power lines to oil and gas wells in Karnes County, as well as across the entire Eagle Ford Shale play. The second photo shows a power substation in Karnes County under construction.

Click On Any Photo To View At Full Size

Below, trucks hauling frac sand in Karnes county, near the Live Oak county line. Eagle Ford shale related truck traffic is quickly taking its toll on highways such as SH-72, which were never designed for this level of activity.

Please check back with us soon for more photos of Eagle Ford Shale, including Karnes and DeWitt counties.

Below, a photo of a rig outside of Karnes City, Texas stylized in “metallic neon”. Available for purchase at the Energyindustryphotos.com store on Cafepress.

Eagle Ford Shale Play Photos

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:06:38 +0000

Here are some recent photos taken this spring of new activity in the Eagle Ford shale oil and gas play in South Texas. In this most recent collection of Eagle Ford shale photos you will find some images of new activity in Karnes, Atascosa, McMullen, LaSalle, Gonzales, DeWitt, and Live Oak counties. I recently logged about 500 miles, driving the back roads in South Texas to get a glimpse of how things are progressing in the Eagle Ford. As you cross back and forth across across the core of the “sweet spot” or liquids rich core of the Eagle Ford shale, you see a common theme. That is, oil and gas wells on a farm or ranch, and new homes with new cars in the driveway. From the looks of things, at least some of those who have received bonus money or royalty checks are spending some of it. You see farmers with new tractors, fancy new ranch gate entrances, and in towns such as Floresville, new businesses such as motels, restaurants and oilfield related businesses.

The first photo below was taken in Pleasanton, Texas, (which located just north of the major Eagle Ford shale liquids core area), shows new cars for sale on a lot next to a new motel being built. The second Eagle Ford shale photo on below was taken south of Jordanton, Texas. It shows new oilfield equipment in temporary storage before being installed on leases in Eagle Ford Shale.

Note: Most Of The Photos Below Can Be Enlarged By Clicking On Them.

Next, a drilling rig on an Eagle Ford shale well just north of Cotulla Texas, near the small community of Woodward in LaSalle county.

Below, vacuum trucks unloading produced water from Eagle Ford Shale wells at a new saltwater disposal facility north of Tilden Texas. Because of the great amount of water used to frac Eagle Ford Shale wells, there is a need for more saltwater disposal wells in the Eagle Ford Shale. Many new vacuum truck driver jobs in the Eagle Ford shale have been created as a result for this need to dispose of produced water from new wells. So competitive is the Eagle Ford Shale saltwater disposal business that you will often find facilities located across the road from each other. There is another Eagle Ford shale saltwater injection facility in Atascosa county located just across SH-16 from the one seen below.

Above: Gas flares burning at night are becoming a common sight across much of South Texas.

Below is a photo taken at night, showing new natural gas treatment equipment including a separator and dehydrator unit on a new Eagle Ford well location in Karnes County. The second photo below it, shows a Union Pacific locomotive and cars loaded full of aggregate which is destined for new Well locations and roads in the Eagle Ford Shale area. The aggregate or gravel business is booming in South Texas. Some material is being sourced locally, however much of the premium aggregate material is coming from outside of South Texas.

A new well location in southern Atascosa County. This photo shows a heater treater, tank battery and a small flare burning waste gas. The second photo shows a a large new natural gas liquids gathering and treatment facility near Pleasanton Texas.

A pipeline crew laying a new line in LaSalle County near Woodward, northwest of Cotulla.

> Next Page Of Eagle Ford Shale Photos

Please check back with us soon, as we will be adding more new Eagle Ford Shale photos.

Recent Photos of Eagle Ford Shale Activity

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:12:05 +0000

Here are some photos that I took recently in the Eagle Ford Shale, mostly around DeWitt, Wilson, and Gonzales counties. This area of the Eagle Ford Shale play is experiencing an explosion in growth of new businesses such as RV parks, apartment complexes, oil well service and rental companies. Despite the flurry of activity, the surface has only been scratched on this massive Texas oil discovery. Thousands more wells will be drilled over the coming years as the Eagle Ford Shale play matures.

Towns such as Cuero, Kennedy, Gonzales, and Stockdale are jammed with Eagle Ford Shale oilfield workers including welders, roughnecks, and pipeline construction crews.

Below: Twin Weatherford pump jacks on a new well location near Cuero Texas.

The quaint rural landscape of DeWitt, Gonzales and other South Texas counties is changing quickly. In the photo below, on the right, a drilling rig can be seen off in the distance behind an old windmill. In the photo on the left, a huge natural gas flare roars so loud it sounds like a jet engine. This portable trailer – mounted gas flare burns so hot it can be felt almost a quarter-mile away.

Below a Trinidad Drilling Inc. rig near field of wildflowers, west of Cuero in DeWitt County.

This large centralized tank battery features 24 large oil tanks, compressors and natural gas treatment equipment. Altogether it probably accounts for several million dollars worth of new Eagle Ford Shale infrastructure just on one lease alone. Centralized oil and gas gathering facilities like this one, along with new natural gas pipelines like the one seen below, are under construction all across Eagle Ford Shale play.

Below: Oil and gas companies almost never it a dry hole in the Eagle Ford Shale. Before the drilling rig seen in the background has even spudded a well, construction on a pipeline to carry the oil and gas it will produce is already underway.

Another large centralized oil gathering facility in Gonzales County owned by EFS Midstream, LLC. This one features over 20 large tanks. Its owners are serious about controlling access, and preventing unwanted behavior at the facilities, as indicated by the huge sign in the second photo.

With oil and gas equipment prices at an all-time high, companies must be wary of thieves and vandals. Note that this company is a member of Energy Crime Stoppers, and encourages witnesses to report suspicious activity by calling 888-OIL-TIPS.

Above: An old oak tree, which has probably seen more than a hundred springs, located next to a new Eagle Ford Shale well and large trailer mounted gas flare. Portable gas flare units are being used on leases which have not been hooked up to natural gas pipelines yet. The gas flare seen in this photo was roaring loudly, and burning so much natural gas that it could be felt almost quarter-mile away. Although this seems wasteful, and it probably is, oil companies are more concerned about selling millions of dollars of valuable liquids such as condensate and crude oil than they are about waiting for gas pipelines to be completed. Due to a glut of gas from increased production, natural gas is now almost considered a “waste product” which must be disposed of in order to get at billions of dollars worth of oil.

Below: A small RV Park built for oilfield workers is just one of scores of new ones in the Eagle Ford Shale play area. With parking spots for travel trailers commanding all time high prices, a landowner can quickly pay for one of the small RV parks and begin earning a profit.

More Photos: Click Here

If you would like any of the photos seen on this site in high-resolution to use for personal or business use, please contact us using the e-mail link at the bottom of this page. Thank you.

Pearsall Shale, Natural Gas Giant Below The Eagle Ford?

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:36:48 +0000

What is the Pearsall Shale and Is It The Next Eagle Ford?

The Pearsall shale is a Cretaceous age rock formation (65-145 million years old), known to be productive primarily of dry natural gas. In South Texas, as part of the Rio Grande embayment, it is located several thousand feet deeper than the Eagle Ford shale. In the Maverick basin, the Pearsall Formation defines a regionally occurring shoal-water limestone complex, and open-water shelf system with a maximum thickness of 500-600 feet.

There are Pearsall shale gas wells dating back to the 1960′s, however horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies developed in the past decade have made this deep formation more attractive to oil and gas exploration companies. So far, Encana, Anadarko and Newfield Exploration have recently drilled exploratory Pearsall shale wells in the Maverick Basin, and several are now producing dry gas. (These wells are in Dimmit, Maverick and Zavala counties.) South and Eastward, where the Pearsall shale lies at an even greater depth, there has been little interest in wide scale drilling programs so far.

In the Cretaceous age geologic column of South Texas seen below, the Pearsall shale lies beneath the Glen Rose formation, or the Suart City Reef Trend, depending on where it is located in South Texas.

Why The Sleeping Giant, The Pearsall Shale, Is Still On The Back Burner

Lack of interest in the Pearsall shale is primarily due to the fact that natural gas prices are depressed, and greater riches lie in the liquids – rich Eagle Ford shale, which is located thousands of of feet above the Pearsall shale. Pearsall shale wells are typically more expensive and more difficult to drill than Eagle Ford shale wells, due to their great depth and the potential for encountering depleted zones such as the Edwards. A report in Oil and Gas Journal in 2009 hinted that the Pearsall shale could be the “next Barnett Shale”. It could very well be, someday, but not with today’s low natural gas prices. As of Jan, 23, 2012, natural gas was selling at $2.45 per million BTU. This price for natural gas is about $10 per MM/Btu cheaper that it was in 2006. See the natural gas price – history chart below.

Historic Natural Gas Prices. $ per MM/Btu

The fact is, natural gas is now seen as almost a “waste or by – product”, produced in great quantities from liquids rich wells in the Eagle Ford shale and other areas. In the Eagle Ford shale, it’s the liquids, such as oil and condensate, that companies are after. Natural gas must still be produced from these wells and either sold or flared . Will such a valuable natural resource as natural gas continue to be worth almost nothing? Companies such as Chesapeake Energy are guessing that it will not. Already, dozens of U.S. and foreign power plants have been converted from coal to cleaner burning natural gas, and more new natural gas burning power plants are coming online each year. Few, if any new coal fired plants have been built in the U.S., due to both the low cost of natural gas and strict EPA regulations. Add to this a growing demand for LNG (liquified natural gas) on the world market, plus the conversion of thousands of cars and trucks each year to run on natural gas, and the future looks good for gas.

Here is an excerpt from a recent U.S. News article: “Most of the people I know in the electric power industry are building natural gas” plants, said Jay Apt, a professor of technology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. That’s because of low prices over the last few years and the relatively low cost of building such plants, compared with coal-fired or nuclear. Mr. Apt foresees higher natural gas prices as a result of this widespread conversion. “The surest route to $6 or $8 gas is for everybody to plan on $4 gas,” .

Chesapeake Energy for one, is bullish on natural gas for these reasons, and because of the fact that very few new gas wells are being drilled. (Those wells that are being drilled for natural gas are being done so only to hold leases that are about to expire.)

Here is what Chesapeake Energy had to say to shareholders in the 2010 annual report about the Pearsall shale in South Texas. “This shale underlies most of our Eagle Ford acreage and is the second “sleeper” of our natural gas shale plays. We have two rigs dedicated to testing this formation, and our first few wells have significantly exceeded our expectations. This formation is found about 3,000–4,000 feet deeper than the Eagle Ford and so for the play to become competitive with our other natural gas shale plays, we will need natural gas prices to strengthen from where they are today. We believe this will likely occur in 2013 at the latest. We believe our 350,000 net acre Pearsall leasehold position could support the drilling of up to 3,000 additional net wells.”

This forecast from Chesapeake, made over a year ago, is probably a bit too optimistic in terms of when prices will rebound. Jack Barnes, global macro trends analyst for “Money Morning” forecasts that natural gas prices will remain low until the completion of LNG export facilities, expected to start coming online by 2015. These facilities will eventually export more than 17% of U.S. natural gas production. Barnes predicts that in some fields we may even see natural gas selling for $0.00, or negative $ by this summer, after takeaway costs.

What To Expect Of The Pearsall Shale In The Coming Years

In the short term, perhaps for the next two to five years, natural gas prices will most likely remain too low to justify drilling new Pearsall shale wells. In time, natural gas prices should eventually begin to rise, due to both domestic and international demand, and overall gas supply falling due to the maturing of wells in the Marcellus, Haynesville and other shales. As the price of natural gas rises, drilling will most likely begin in earnest in the Pearsall shale. The timing for a Pearsall shale drilling boom (as well as interest in deeper Eagle Ford shale dry gas), could very well coincide with a surplus of rigs, frac equipment, etc., as the Eagle Ford shale liquids play matures. In the meantime, having a depth exclusion clause in your lease may just be a good idea. This will enable you to renegotiate a new lease for the Pearsall shale when it becomes more valuable.

Article by Nolan Hart, 01/23/2012

Fastest Eagle Ford Shale Well Drilled By EOG

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:41:35 +0000

In a recent conference call to investors on Nov, 2, EOG chairman Mark Papa discussed ways that the company is using to reduce per – well costs in the Eagle Ford shale. Among the ways they are achieving this objective are improvements in Eagle Ford shale well drilling and completion time, improved frac techniques and utilizing contract pumping services for frac jobs.

EOG’s Fastest Well Drilled In Eagle Ford Shale

The fastest Eagle Ford shale well drilled by EOG thus far is the Cusack Ranch #5H, which was drilled and cased to a depth of 15,467′ in only 13 days.

This appears to be a depth / time record that has yet to be matched by any other operator in the Eagle Ford shale. One of the hallmarks of EOG Resources’ overall success in the industry is an “assembly line” approach to drilling and well completion. By following this “cookie cutter” type strategy they have achieved one of the lowest overall per – well costs in the Eagle Ford shale play.

Along with reduced well drilling time, improved frac techniques and service company savings, Mr. Papa expects EOG to shave another half million dollars in per – well costs in the coming months as they use self – sourced frac sand from their own mine. No mention was made of where the frac sand mine is located, but the company recently began operations at a mine at Chippewa County, in Central Wisconsin and is nearing the start-up of operations of a new frac sand processing plant in Chippewa Falls, WI. EOG is also in the process of developing its own frac sand mine in Cooke county, Texas.

Due to these cost cutting measures, the company expects to soon see Eagle Ford shale well costs at around $5.5 million. EOG Resources reports that it is the Eagle Ford shale’s lowest cost oil producer.

Results Of Well Spacing Tests By EOG

EOG Resources’ original estimates of 900 million barrels of recoverable oil from their acreage in South Texas, (net after royalty) were based on a 130 acre well spacing plan. The company is experimenting with reduced well spacing, which could dramatically increase the amount of recoverable oil in their acreage in the Eagle Ford shale. The company has closely monitored wells drilled with reduced spacing at the King Fehner Unit lease for more than 150 days, and reports favorable results. EOG is testing six additional multi – well plots of varying densities, but is not yet ready to make a firm technical call regarding well spacing.

“Knife’s Edge Of Takeaway Capacity In The Eagle Ford”

In the conference call Mr. Papa stated that the company would continue to be on the “knife’s edge of takeaway capacity” until mid 2012 when the Enterprise expansion is completed. Meanwhile they are moving over 15,000 barrels a day by rail, most of which is capturing LLS pricing. (Light Sweet Louisiana which trades higher than WTI or West Texas Intermediate). Overall, Eagle Ford shale oil is now trading at prices higher than WTI.