The Eagle Ford Shale Blog » Eagle Ford Shale Distinct Regions

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.

Gonzales County Eagle Ford Shale Photos

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:05:51 +0000

Eagle Ford shale oil and gas drilling in Gonzales county remains strong into 2012. Since the first of the year, (as of April 18,) there have been approximately 140 new drilling permits issued for horizontal Eagle Ford Shale wells in Gonzales county. EOG Resources leads the way, with the most permits issued by the Texas Railroad Commission. Oil and gas companies drilling the Eagle Ford Shale in Gonzales county include EOG Resources, Marathon Oil, Penn Virginia Oil and Gas, Hunt Oil Company, Lucas Energy Incorporated, Rosetta Resources Operating Incorporated, Tidal Petroleum, Forrest oil, and Southern Bay Operating. The depth of the Eagle Ford Shale in Gonzales County ranges from around 4000 feet to over 12,000 feet. The southern edge of the county sits in the “volatile oil window.” Some very productive wells have been made south of the city of Gonzales in the Sugarkane Eagle Ford play, which is a combination of the Eagle Ford Shale and the Austin chalk. Well such as EOG Resources’ Mitchell Unit #2H, which was producing 3,090 barrels of oil and 2.9 million cubic feet of natural gas per day of initial production, are the reason that Gonzales County is a hotbed of drilling activity. Small communities such as Nixon, Smiley and Cheapside are starting to feel the effects of the oil boom, with RV parks opening up and increased traffic from oilfield vehicles. Below is a map of the Eagle Ford Shale in Gonzales county showing the depth of the formation and Gonzales county’s location in the volatile oil and heavy oil part of the play.

Click on the Image below to View At Full Size

The photo below shows a drilling rig just southwest of the city of Gonzales, drilling a new Eagle Ford Shale well. The main street in Nixon Texas is not normally this quiet looking. This photo was taken on Easter Sunday. Oil and gas drilling activity is hot and heavy just to the south of Nixon along the Wilson, Karnes and DeWitt county lines. With some leases about to expire in Gonzales County, oil and gas companies are drilling day and night to hold acreage, as well as bring in prolific, high-volume liquids producing wells which help boost share prices and fund further drilling activity.

(Click on any of the photos to view at full size.)

Below is a photo of a centralized tank battery in Eagle Ford Shale southwest of Gonzales Texas. The twenty-four large oil tanks in this photo give some indication of how productive some Eagle Ford Shale wells in Gonzales county are.

Below, across much of Gonzales county, near town such as Smiley and Nixon, the poultry industry continues to be a mainstay of the economy. After seeing all of the orange surveyors tape flying from stakes, fence posts and trees in the area, you get the feeling that change is coming quickly to small farms such as the one seen below.

Please check back with our site in the near future for more photos of Eagle Ford Shale activity in Gonzales, DeWitt, Karnes, Live Oak, Wilson, Atascosa, McMullen, LaSalle and other counties.

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.

Atascosa Eagle Ford Shale Heating Up

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:10:56 +0000

The drilling activity in Atascosa County has picked up considerably since the first of 2012. There are several oil and gas companies drilling the Eagle Ford shale in Atascosa county at present. They include Marathon oil, EOG Resources, Carrizo Oil and Gas Incorporated, Murphy Exploration and Production, Comstock Oil and Gas, Cabot Oil and Gas, Cinco Natural Resources Corporation, Pioneer Natural Resources, XTO Energy Incorporated, Hilcorp Energy, El Paso E&P Inc, and Chesapeake. Just about all of the major Eagle Ford Shale players are represented in Atascosa County. The number of new drilling permits issued by the Texas Railroad Commission for the Eagle Ford Shale in Atascosa County since January 1, 2011 stands at around 50. Much of the horizontal drilling activity is taking place in the lower southern half of the county. Below is a map from the Texas Railroad commission showing new oil and gas wells. (The pentagon shape indicates the surface location of the well and the colored circle at the end of the line represents the bottom hole location. Note the intense activity in the southeastern part of the county just east of Whitsett on the Karnes county and Live Oak county lines. Below is a photo of a new EOG Resources oil well in Atascosa County, just inside the Karnes County line. In the background you can see a drilling rig completing another new well.

(Click on images to view in original size).

Below is a map from the Energy Information Administration showing Atascosa County’s location in the Eagle Ford Shale play. More than half of the county is located in the oil window. Notice that the lower southeastern portion of Atascosa County lies in the “volatile oil – condensate window”, of Eagle Ford Shale. This is the area that is seeing the most intense drilling activity as oil and gas companies go after the highly valuable natural gas liquids and oil found in that part of the play. This is where the “investor presentation wells”, with initial production figures of up to two thousand barrels a month or more, are being drilled. Companies such as EOG Resources will drill as many of these wells as they possibly can before having to go drill wells to hold leases in the more oily section of the Eagle Ford Shale in Atascosa County. The depth of the top of the Eagle Ford Shale in Atascosa County ranges between 6000′ to over 10,000′.

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.

What Is The Sugarkane Eagle Ford Field?

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:13:35 +0000

The origin of the name “Sugarkane” field is unclear. It is a part of the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas, in which wells are being completed by drilling horizontally into both the Austin Chalk and the Eagle Ford shale formations, often with impressive results. Sugarkane was discovered in 2006 and lies approximately 15 miles south of the main Austin Chalk trend. It is overlain by the Pecan Gap shale, and underlain by the tight Buda Limestone, both of which provide a tight reservoir pressure seal. Geologists believe that oil and gas found in the Austin chalk migrated upwards from the Eagle Ford shale “source rock” below. The Texas Railroad Commission lists the discovery well for the Sugarkane field to be the Burlington – Kunde Lease, # 1, a vertical well.

Due to the fact that wells can be drilled through more feet of pay zone, and the fact that Sugarkane exists in the “sweet spot” of the Eagle Ford shale, (over-pressured, and containing large volumes of oil and natural gas liquids), it is proving to be a hot area of the overall play. Aurora Oil and Gas Ltd, an Australian company, (With Marathon Oil as operator) will have drilled over 85 wells in the Sugarkane field by the end of 2011. Aurora expects to ramp up their drilling program in 2012, running 10-12 rigs with 4 frac crews, and drilling 123 wells by year’s end. Aurora operates in 4 separate AMI’s or “areas of mutual interest” in the Sugarkane field, identified as Longhorn (28,280 gross acres), Sugarloaf (23,550 gross acres), Ipanema (4,600 gross acres) and Excelsior ((20,180 gross acres).

Players in the Sugarkane Eagle Ford shale play include Aurora Oil and Gas Ltd., Marathon Oil, Pioneer Natural Resources, ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, Empyrean Energy, Eureka Energy, Geosouthern Energy, Murphy E&P, Petrohawk Energy among others.

The Sugarkane Eagle Ford shale trend runs roughly from Live Oak to Dewitt county. Below is a map of the Sugarkane Eagle Ford shale play. (source: http://www.auroraoag.com.au)

The second illustration shows Aurora Oil and Gas’s completion procedure for wells in the Sugarkane field and how water aquifers are protected from contamination by frac fluids.

EOG Eagle Ford Shale Report Paints Rosy Picture

Eagle Ford Shale Blog Editor — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 03:58:25 +0000

In a Nov 2, 2010 conference call with investors, EOG chairman Mark Papa gave a glowing estimate of the company’s prospects across the 120 mile swath of the Eagle Ford shale oil window in which they control over 500,000 acres. Most notable in the conference call was a reaffirmation of the .9 billion barrel reserves (net after royalty), and a hint that that figure is about to be raised significantly.

“The bottom line here is that our confidence in individual well results and the total 900 million barrels of oil equivalent net after royalty reserve estimate, have increased since our April analyst conference. Because this is such a huge net oil accumulation, and I believe investors have undervalued this asset,”

Mr. Papa discussed how the Eagle Ford shale play is divided into the “East” and “West” areas, with Eagle Ford shale wells in the East such as the Harper #1H producing an initial production amount of 1,070 barrels a day, and the Cusack – Clampit wells, at rates ranging from 860 to 1,800 barrels of oil per day, with 1 to 1.8 million cubic feet a day of rich gas each. In the Eastern Eagle Ford shale, the play is divided into two zones at different depths and the rock is thicker. In the West, Eagle Ford shale wells such as the Haynes 1-H north of the town of Tilden, in McMullen county, are producing in the 970 to 629 barrel per day range. There in the Western Eagle Ford shale oil window, the rock is a bit thinner but laterals are being drilled up to 6000 feet to increase production.

Also notable in the EOG conference call was a revelation about the mechanics of ultimate oil extraction from the formation. Some geologists had at first doubted the ultimate recovery of Eagle Ford shale wells. Because the Eagle Ford shale is a “borderline carbonate reservoir” and not a traditional shale, there is a good amount of flow through the matrix of the rock itself. The reservoir is proving to have much of the same qualities as a carbonate reservoir for ultimate recovery of oil.

In layman’s terms, a carbonate oil and gas reservoir is typically a much more porous and easily drained type of rock than shale when it comes to oil and gas. Carbonate rock such as limestone may have channels formed by acidic liquids, natural fracturing, etc, which allow oil and gas to flow through the rock to the wellhead. See image below:

Many of the world’s largest oilfields such as some in the Middle East are carbonate reservoirs, drilled with vertical well technology. Shale on the other hand is a harder and mostly nonporous rock which requires much hydraulic fracturing before anything will come out of it. What exists in the Eagle Ford shale, is something in between. The fact that wells can now be drilled sideways using horizontal drilling and then hydraulically fractured, has made possible a new frontier when it comes to taking advantage of borderline rock such as exists in the Eagle Ford shale.

On a more technical level, Papa discussed the “bubble point pressure” of the Eagle Ford shale. “There is an extraordinarily high differential between the initial reservoir pressure and the pressure at which solution gas breaks out of the oil, technically called the bubble point pressure. Across our acreage, the original reservoir pressure averages 7,200 psi and the bubble point pressure averages 2,500 psi. This unusually high spread provides for a larger-than-normal fluid expansion recovery factor. That’s why we’re so confident with our 0.9 billion barrel reserve estimate.”

So far the company has had 100% success across an 120 mile window stretching from near Cotulla, TX to Gonzales county. Wells are being fracked in packages, as opposed to fracking just one well, and there have been some delays in getting the required amount of equipment to move forward at the desired pace. This has slightly reduced the amount of oil the company has expected to bring online in 2011 but is seen as an issue that will be overcome but not until mid 2011.

How many Eagle Ford shale wells will be drilled? With a proposed Eagle Ford shale well spacing of somewhere around 80 acres, (more in the west), there are going to be a lot of wells drilled in EOG’s Eagle Ford shale acreage. It may take a lot fewer to produce the .9 billion barrels as was first estimated according to Papa. They had initially given a figure of 2,800 wells to achieve .9 billion barrels of Eagle Ford shale oil production in their leasehold area.

Below, a photo of the Haynes 1-H, an Eagle Ford shale well drilled by EOG Resources in McMullen County.

Above, a photo of an EOG Resources Eagle Ford shale well, the Haynes 1-H, in McMullen County Texas, north of Tilden.