Eagle Ford Shale

Eagle Ford Shale

The Eagle Ford Shale is a black shale with a high organic carbon content in central Texas. I has become one of the most important economic generators in central Texas.

More at Geology.com.

Texas: Fracking Chemicals and Water Consumption Reports

A new regulation will require drillers in Texas to report the chemicals in their hydraulic fracturing fluid and the amount of water used to frack each well.

More at The Texas Tribune.

US Gas Shales Attract Worldwide Investors

In just the past few weeks companies from China, France and Japan have purchased large holdings in the Eagle Ford, Utica and Marcellus Shales.

More at Bloomberg.

Declining Royalty Payments from Natural Gas Wells

Many property owners are very surprised when the royalties that they receive from a natural gas well on their property decline sharply. They are learning about production decline curves.

More at Geology.com.

Natural Gas Liquids are Hitting the Bottom Line for Drillers

Chesapeake Energy reports that natural gas liquids contributed 17% of their total production but 40% of their natural gas and liquids revenue. This is part of what is fueling interest in plays such as the Utica Shale [1] and Eagle Ford Shale [2].

[1] http://geology.com/articles/utica-shale/
[2] http://geology.com/articles/eagle-ford/

More at Chesapeake Energy Quarterly Report.

Oh No! Who Really Owns the Natural Gas in Shale?

Is natural gas part of the shale or is it a fugitive commodity that is not an integral part of any specific rock unit? Will a refined legal definition of natural gas in Pennsylvania overturn thousands of historic leases?

More at Business Week.

Oil Rig Count Exceeds Natural Gas Rig Count

The number of oil rigs drilling in the United States has surpassed the number of natural gas rigs for the first time in 18 years. Low natural gas prices discourage drilling and the discovery of oil in shale plays such as the Utica Shale, Bakken Shale and Eagle Ford Shale has attracted attention.

More in the Houston Chronicle.

Natural Gas Has Become the “Incidental Product”?

Natural gas was the initial target of horizontal drilling in the shale plays, however, natural gas liquids, condensates and oil are now attracting most of the attention. An article in Investing Daily calls natural gas the “incidental” product.

More at Investing Daily.

Shale Gas and U.S. National Security

The Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University has published a report titled: “Shale Gas and U.S. National Security”. “This study assesses the impact of U.S. domestic shale gas development on energy security and U.S. national security, with emphasis on the geopolitical consequences of rising supplies of U.S. natural gas from shale and the implications for U.S. foreign policy.” Quoted from the report summary.

BHP Billiton to Buy Petrohawk for $12 Billion

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company headquartered in Australia, has agreed to purchase Petrohawk Energy for $12.1 billion. Petrohawk is an independent oil and natural gas company with a focus on exploration and production of shale plays within the United States. The company has significant activity in the Haynesville, Lower Bossier and Eagle Ford Shales of Texas and Louisiana.

More in the Petrohawk press release.

$3.5 Billion for Eagle Ford Acreage

According to a report on FuelFix.com, Marathon Oil will acquire 141,000 net acres of Eagle Ford Shale holdings in Atascosa, Karnes, Gonzales and DeWitt counties, Texas for $3.5 billion.

Eagle Ford Shale – Thousands of Jobs

The Houston Chronicle reports that oil and gas drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale of Texas has generated a need for workers – not only with the companies doing the drilling but also with the companies that provide technical services, materials, logistics support and more.

Eagle Ford Shale: Greatest Economic Driver in South Texas

In an article on the FuelFix website, David Porter, Texas Railroad Commissioner (the Railroad Commission regulates natural gas drilling for the State of Texas), says that the Eagle Ford Shale has the potential to be the greatest economic driver in the history of South Texas.

Chesapeake Energy: Land Acquisition Machine

A post on the Seeking Alpha blog details how successful Chesapeake Energy has been at rapidly leasing enormous acreages in all of the major natural gas shale plays in the United States. They author calls them a “land acquisition machine”.

Eagle Ford Shale Landowners vs Army National Guard

The Texas Army National Guard wants to buy 22,232 acres of land over the Eagle Ford Shale and owners of the land under consideration don’t want to sell because they want to keep the land for potential oil and gas royalties. More in the Houston Chronicle.

Eagle Ford Shale – An Economic Engine

The Houston Chronicle is a close watcher of the oil and gas industry – especially in Texas. Here is a quote from a recent HC article…. “Development of the Eagle Ford shale [...] shows promise of being the most important economic generator South Texas has ever seen.

EPA vs Texas Railroad Commission

The Railroad Commission has jurisdiction of natural gas drilling in Texas and the commission disagrees with the United States Environmental Protection Agency on the cause of domestic water well contamination in North Texas. EPA claims that Barnett Shale drilling has caused the problem. More in the Washington Post.

Eagle Ford Shale Generates $3B in 2010

The San Antonio Business Journal has an article titled: “Eagle Ford Shale produced $3 billion for South Texas.”

Side-effects of Shale Drilling

An article in the Houston Chronicle titled: “We Can Minimize Negative Side-Effects of Shale Drilling” explores some ways to mitigate some of the problems encountered in developing the Barnett Shale, Eagle Ford Shale and Haynesville Shale in Texas.

Eagle Ford Shale: One of the Nation’s Biggest Oil and Gas Fields

An article in the Houston Chronicle, a newspaper that closely follows the oil and gas industry in Texas and worldwide, refers to the Eagle Ford Shale as “one of the nation’s biggest oil and gas fields.”

Eagle Ford Shale Right-of-Way Classes

The American Right of Way Associates will hold an Eagle Ford Shale Training Class on Saturday, January 29th in San Antonio, Texas. The class is titled “Right of Way Acquisitions & Land Title Training Program”. It teaches the skills necessary for right of way agents and title agents to serve the various oil and gas companies working in the Eagle Ford Shale play. More at PR.com.

Acceleration of Activity in the Eagle Ford Shale

The successes of 2010 in the Eagle Ford Shale will probably make it one of the fastest growing oil and gas targets of 2011. Shell, BP, Statoil and CNOOC have all made major acquisitions in the Eagle Ford. More at FuelFix.com.

New Gathering and Processing Facilities for Marcellus and Eagle Ford Plays

El Paso Corporation and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Company will invest up to $500 million on natural gas gathering, processing and storage facilities in the Marcellus Shale and Eagle Ford Shale gas plays. See the KKR press release.

Chesapeake Energy Buys More Eagle Ford Shale

Chesapeake Energy will purchase rights to 23,180 acres of Eagle Ford Shale in Texas from Antares Energy Ltd. for $200 million. More at the Oil and Gas Journal.

Natural Gas Reserves Shoot Up for Shale States

The Energy Information Administration has published a map that shows the increase in wet natural gas proved reserves by state for 2008-2009. There were huge increases for the states with large shale gas plays such as Marcellus Shale, Haynesville Shale, Fayetteville Shale, Eagle Ford Shale and the Barnett Shale.

Carrizo: Results from Two Eagle Ford Shale Wells

“Carrizo’s initial two Eagle Ford Shale wells were drilled from a common surface location in central La Salle County, Texas. The Mumme 10H had a 24-hour initial production rate of 1,011 barrels of oil per day while the Mumme 12H had a 24-hour initial production rate of 1,220 Bopd.” Quoted from the Carrizo press release. They are flaring 2Mmcf of gas per day waiting on pipeline.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation Buys into Eagle Ford Shale

CNOOC, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, has agreed to purchase a 1/3 stake in Chesapeake Energy’s Eagle Ford Shale properties in South Texas for over $1B. More at Reuters.com.

Louisiana LNG Export Terminal

Chesapeake Energy is working to get an LNG export terminal at their Sabine Pass, Louisiana facility. There they can receive gas from their Haynesville, Barnette and Eagle Ford fields and prepare it for shipment to other countries where the price of gas is much higher. More at PennEnergy.com.

CNOOC Buys Eagle Ford Shale Stake for $1.1B

CNOOC, Ltd., a Chinese company, has agreed to purchase a stake in the Eagle Ford Shale of southeastern Texas from Chesapeake Energy Corporation for $1.1 Billion. More at Yahoo! News.

Two New Eagle Ford Pipelines

An article on the Oil and Gas Journal website describes two new pipeline projects by Energy Transfer Partners that will serve wells in the Eagle Ford Shale.