Eagle Ford Sand Grab Underway

Frack Sand Storage

At the onset of the Eagle Ford boom, the biggest priority was getting skin in the game. Now, rather than a land grab, the next big thing may be a sand grab.

Next month, the EIA predicts the Eagle Ford will reach oil production of $1.5-million bbls/d, but according to the Houston Chronicle, 95% of the oil and gas is left behind, despite the high production numbers. With those statistics, operators are motivated to find ways to recover these hydrocarbons. One method already being applied is the use of copious amounts of sand in well completions, in order to further stimulate the well during the fracking process.

The use of sand in well completions stands to greatly benefit companies that supply sand to operators. Sand miner US Silica Holdings Inc. said its demand could triple over the next five years, according to Reuters. Thousands of tons of sand are used to frack just one well.

BNSF & U.S. Silica Plan Frack Sand Storage in San Antonio

Frack Sand

BNSF and U.S. Silica have plans to build a silica sand storage facility in San Antonio for the Eagle Ford Shale. The facility will have capacity to store 15,000 tons of frack sand and should be operational by early 2013.

U.S. Silica expects to make 3-4 shipments per month of 10,000 tons of frack sand from Illinois to Texas. The company will ship three grades of dry sand, as well as resin coated proppants from a new facility in Rochelle, IL.

BNSF will run a 100 car train between Ottawa Illinois and San Antonio.

Read more at ussilica.com

Frack Sand Trucking Company Adding Dozens of Trucks and Drivers in 2012

A frack sand trucking company has plans to add dozens of trucks and almost 100 more Eagle Ford Jobs by the end of 2012. Cornell Carriers is one of many companies hiring drivers by the dozen. The demand for hauling sand, fluids, and oil production is outstripping supply.  There simply aren't enough qualified drivers living in South Texas. Almost every company with trucks is hiring drivers. If you have a CDL, take advantage of the opportunity. Read more about Cornell's plans at BizJournals.com

P.S. Many of our most successful jobs listings are related to trucking. You can gain exposure to thousands per month by posting jobs on our Eagle Ford Careers page.

Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) Grows Eagle Ford Production 15% in Q1

Pioneer Natural Resources continues its focus on lower costs and further improving its Eagle Ford assets.  Along the way, the company grew Eagle Ford production 15% quarter over quarter from 20,000 boe/d to 23,000 boe/d.  Current expectations are for more than 50,000 boe/d in 2014. Pioneer reported that results continue to hold up on the 45 wells where white sand was used instead of ceramic proppant in completions. The company tested white sand in more shallow areas of the play and has recognized a cost savings of $700,000 per well. If production results hold up, we might see a more significant shift to the use of white sand.

The company has 10 wells waiting to be completed and plans to bring online 125 wells this year. With 26 brought online in the first quarter, we'll see an increase to more than 30 wells per quarter over the remainder of the year.

You can read more quarterly commentary at our Pioneer Eagle Ford page.

Eagle Ford Crude is Driving Rail Traffic Across South Texas

Gardendale Pipe Yard

South Texas rail traffic is on the rise. Some of the traffic is directly related to growth in the Eagle Ford and some is related to economic growth across the board.

The Port of San Antonio's East Kelly Railport is set for an expansion this year. Watco is expanding to occupy 20 acres of the 350 acre railport and will nearly double the amount of track it has in place from 20,000 ft to more than 35,000 ft. The development is in response to growth from serving a little more than 2,600 railcars in 2010 to more than 4,500 in 2011.

San Antonio isn't alone either. The Gardendale railroad was almost abandoned a few short years ago, but now the interchange has five switching engines running.

Gardendale Rail Map

Frack sand silos rise above the yard and black tank cars hauling Eagle Ford crude stand ready for transport. Adjacent to the interchange, you'll see several loads of pipe waiting to be put to work. There's no doubt who is driving growth in Gardendale. It's all oil & gas.

There's enough activity that Ironhorse Resources, operator of the Gardendale Railroad, has added around 80,000 ft of track and has expansion plans that will cover more than 350 acres. The facility is built to handle 15,000 railcars per year, but that number will stretch well above 20,000 as expansions are completed.

You can read in regards to Ironhorse's facility at gardendalerail.com