Houston Engineering Firm Opens Eagle Ford Branch Office in Webb County

S&B Infrastructure Projects

Houston-based engineering firm S&B Infrastructure, Ltd. (S&BI) has opened a new branch office in Laredo, TX (Webb County) to serve the Eagle Ford Shale. The company plans on expanding engineering and construction phase management services throughout the play, focusing on infrastructure improvements for Eagle Ford counties. According to S&BI officials, county governments are a primary focus for business development.

“S&BI recognizes the importance of having a presence in Laredo and Webb County, which is the sixth largest county in our great state.”

— Harold “JR” Reddish, PE, President and CEO of S&BI

The Laredo office is currently manned by a three-person staff. According to Senior VP of S&BI Daniel Rios, the company is currently working on infrastructure improvements in La Salle County. In the second-quarter of 2012, quarterly taxable spending in La Salle County was $34,540,083. That's an increase of 536% since 2009. With the continuous and progressive development over the past five years in the Eagle Ford, the revenue streams for counties covering the play are increasing. As these counties' coffers continue to fill-up, look for more engineering firms like S&BI to target these local governments for their infrastructure improvements.

S&BI has provided planning, design, and construction phase services for over $6.6 billion in infrastructure projects since 1994. The company has other branch offices across Texas and Louisiana.

Read more at sbinfra.com

Eagle Ford Shale Stakeholders Summit - 2012

Eagle Ford Shale Workforce Analysis Map

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.

Laredo Job Fair January 13, 2012

Don't forget the Laredo Eagle Ford Job Fair on Friday, January 13th, starting at 9 am at the Laredo Energy Arena (6700 Arena Blvd, Laredo, Texas, 78041). The city along with area partners are hosting the event that will have more than 110 companies participating. Come early. Blasita Lopez, of the Laredo Convention and Visitor's Bureau, expects there will be more than 2,000 attendees at the event. More than 40 of the companies will be taking applications and interviewing candidates, while the rest will have their products and services on display. Workforce solutions will also be on site to help build resumes and submit applications.

Eagle Ford companies will be filling open positions for administrative, labor, driving, engineering, and even executive positions. Have your resume up to date and be prepared to interview.

Don't forget that you can search and add listings for open positions at our Eagle Ford Jobs page right now.

Registered vendors include:

HalliburtonAssc. Laredo Forwarding Agents

Holt CATCarrizo Oil & Gas

Bassler Energy ServicesSanjel USA

Key Energy ServicesJW Human Resources

WilsonKilliam Oil Co.

UNI-TRADE ForwardingLewis Energy Group

Just EnergyPrimerica Financial Services

Western Summit Contractors, Inc.Industrial Gear and Solutions

ManpowerSun Coast Resources

Spartan Oil Field ServicesWorld Ventures

Laredo Energy ArenaThomas Petroleum

HLI Energy ServicesSafety Management Systems

Pilot Flying J TransportationExterran

Mainline ServicesChesapeake Energy

Harlee's Key ServiceHill Country Well Services

South Texas Auto RebuildersCOMEX (PEMEX)

Alarm Security GroupFirst Convenience Bank

Staff Force Personnel ServicesSOS Staffing

Nabors Well ServicesTravel Centers of America

Terracon ConsultantsTSI

Martin InstrumentPatterson-UTI Drilling

South Texas Oil & Gas Job Fairs

More than 10,000 direct Eagle Ford jobs have been created in past two years and most expect that number will more than double over the next two. The play is entering a producing phase where more operations and maintenance personnel will be needed. That's in addition to the office managers and oilfield workers who are making sure wells are being drilled on schedule. With the influx of workers, we also have more resources at our disposal. There have been Eagle Ford related job fairs almost every week over the past couple of months. If you want to stay up to date, be sure to visit our new Eagle Ford Job Fairs page, where we'll be tracking all job fairs. Over the coming month, there's a job fair in Robstown on December 7, 2011, and another in Laredo on January 13, 2012. In addition, you can always search for jobs right now at our Eagle Ford Jobs page.

While big dollars have been invested by operators gaining positions in the play, now is the time real investment begins. Eagle Ford drilling has eclipsed 200 active rigs and best estimates peg a peak at 250+ rigs. If each rig employees 50 or more direct workers, we have at least 2,500 more rig hands coming to the area. Add ancillary services who benefit from an uptick in business and you very easily get to the job boom we're experiencing today.