The Eagle Ford Shale Stakeholders Summit was held October 23, 2012, at Texas A&M International University in Laredo. A study released by UTSA's Tom Tunstall was the talk of the meeting. Tunstall recently published an Eagle Ford workforce analysis and the numbers are quite promising.

In the 14 counties where the play is actively producing, 38,000 Eagle Ford jobs were supported in 2011 and over 80,000 jobs will be supported by 2021. The most significant occupational impacts have been see in what Tunstall characterizes as construction and extraction, office support, transportation, support services, management, and other professional occupations.

Webb County and Karnes County led the region in Eagle Ford workforce with 6,983 and 6,092 jobs supported by the development in 2011. Those numbers are projected to grow to over 10,000 jobs in Webb and almost 15,000 jobs in Karnes by 2012. Wow.

Interestingly, over one-half of all employees hired have only required moderate to short-term on-the-job training as of 2011. Only 10% of jobs require a bachelors degree. In 2021, moderate to short-term on-the-job training will still account for almost half of the workforce and jobs requiring a bachelors degree will rise to 15% of the workforce.

Other items covered at the event included:

• Finding workers is difficult and the industry needs everyone from drivers to engineers
• Truck routes are being developed, but roads are taking a pounding in the mean time
• Teachers and lower paid employees in oil communities are moving 30+ miles away and commuting because of the housing shortage

Watch for a full summary of the UTSA report referenced above in the next few days.