McMullen County, TX and the Eagle Ford Shale Play

McMullen County Eagle Ford Shale Map

McMullen County Eagle Ford Shale Map

McMullen County (1,143 sq miles) is in South Texas and falls in the fairway of the Eagle Ford shale play.  The Olmos and Wilcox formations have been targeted on a smaller scale for many years.  With the land rush to the shale plays, the county proved central to the Eagle Ford Shale oil boom. Current development almost solely targets the shale oil, gas-condensate, and wet gas windows of the Eagle Ford.

McMullen County activity is focused in the central portion of the county between the Edwards Reef Trend and the Sligo Reef Trend.  The Eagle Ford is found at depths of approximately 8,000 ft in the extreme north of the county and the play drops to more than 14,000 ft in the shale gas portion of the play in the south.  The dry gas window of the Eagle Ford has not seen extensive levels of activity, but drilling will expand into southern McMullen as natural gas prices increase.

County services of interest to oil and gas lease owners include the McMullen County Appraisal District (tax collector) and the McMullen County Clerk (property records) office. The county is located approximately 75 miles south of San Antonio, TX and is sparsely populated without an incorporated town or city.  The town of Tilden serves as the county seat and Calliham is the only other community in the county.

McMullen County Oil & Gas Discussion Forum

MineralRightsForum.com is a discussion network for mineral owners, royalty owners, and industry professionals to discuss oil & gas related topics. 

Major Operators in McMullen

Chesapeake, Petrohawk, and Swift Energy are the largest producers with operations targeting the Eagle Ford in McMullen County.

  • Chesapeake is in partnership with the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), where the companies target the shale oil window of the Eagle Ford across several counties. In McMullen, Chesapeake drills in the northern portion of the county where the formation is found at depths of more than 9,000 ft. The company then extends horizontal laterals that can reach an additional 6,000 ft.

  • Petrohawk has three active Eagle Ford Shale areas: Black Hawk, Hawkville, and Red Hawk. The eastern half of the Hawkville field expands into McMullen County. Petrohawks acreage falls between the Edwards Reef Trend and Sligo Reef Trend. Wells produce wet gas, so economics are driven by gas and ngl prices. Petrohawk expects its typical well will produce a type curve that yields 5 Bcf of gas and 207 Mbbl of NGLs.

  • Swift Energy was formerly focused on exploiting its assets that targeted the Olmos formation, but the company has shifted its drilling to the Eagle Ford.

McMullen County - Eagle Ford Shale Statistics

This following information is provided by The University of Texas at San Antonio’s (UTSA) Institute for Economic Development.

  • Quarterly Taxable Spending: $9,059,725 (2nd quarter 2012, an increase of 1,244% since 2009)

  • Oil & Gas Employment: 1,932 jobs (2011)

  • 10-Year Oil & Gas Employment Outlook: 3,286 jobs (2021)

McMullen County - Eagle Ford Shale Upcoming or Recent Projects

This following information is provided by The University of Texas at San Antonio’s (UTSA) Institute for Economic Development.

  • Kinder Morgan - Gas Pipeline

  • Copano Energy - Gas Pipeline (DK Pipeline extension)

  • NET Holdings Management - Gas Pipeline (from La Salle)

  • Southcross Energy - Gas Pipeline (to San Patricio County)

  • Regency Energy - Tilden Natural Gas Processing Plant (2013, 60 MMcf/d)

  • NuStar Energy - Highway 97 Crude/Condensate Storage (2011, 125 MB)

  • NuStar Energy - Highway 16 Crude/Condensate Storage (2011, 125 MB)

E&P Companies with Operations in McMullen County

McMullen County Pipeline Companies

  • Air Liquide Large Indust US

  • Eagle Ford Midstream, LP

  • Enterprise Products

  • Houston Pipeline Company (Energy Transfer)

  • Kinder Morgan

  • La Salle Pipeline

  • Southcross CCNG Transmission

  • Texas Eastern Transmission (Spectra)

  • Texstar Midstream Services

  • Transcontinental Gas Pipeline (Williams)