Eagle Ford Shale News — Eagle Ford Shale Play

The Eagle Ford Task Force met November 2, at the UTSA campus in downtown San Antonio. Water issues are at the forefront of the task force's agenda. Six experts invited by RRC Commissioner David Porter addressed the task force. Two of the presentation and the agenda can be accessed below

EFTF Meeting Agenda November 2, 2011

Both Darrell Brownlow, a geologist, and Stephen Jester, an engineer with ConocoPhillips, indicated there should be ample water to supply fracking needs in the Eagle Ford. Brownlow estimates that for every 1 acre-foot of water used in fracking that 280 acre-feet are used for other purposes. Jester estimates that at peak consumption the Eagle Ford will only account for 5-6.7% of water demand in the 16 county region he evaluated. That's really focusing in on the core. The aquifers in the region cover much more than 16 counties.

Advancements in completions are also decreasing the amount of water used in each well. Early on, operators reported using 125,000 bbls or more in completions, but some are now using less than 85,000 bbls of water per well and Jester believes that number will continue to decline on an efficiency basis.

Brent Halldorson of Fountain Quail Water Management addressed the potential of recycling flow back water (water produced after a hydraulic fracture completion). The industry has the opportunity to recycle as much as 15-20% of the water it uses in hydraulic fracturing. Fountain Quail recently opened a water treatment plant in Kenedy, TX.

One attendee brought up the fact that water used in fracking is taken out of the hydrologic cycle and not replaced, but several industry participants made sure the panel was aware that natural gas combustion creates water and that some have estimated the same amount of water used in fracking is produced from combustion of natural gas in the first few years of an Eagle Ford well's life. Interesting.

The Eagle Ford Task Force plans to meet once a month to address issues and concerns related to the Eagle Ford. Stay up to date with task force news at our Task Force News page.

The Texas RRC is taking great measures to assure landowners and stakeholders are well informed across South Texas. For a resource the size of the Eagle Ford Shale, it is important that people understand the impact of the play. The RRC developed an Eagle Ford Task Force to help avoid the issues faced in the North Texas Barnett Shale where landowners and citizens weren't prepared for full scale development. With production on the rise and the rig count climbing, you can bet each day the Eagle Ford impacts more people.

Commissioner David Porter has created an Eagle Ford Task Force to head off the kind of public backlash that has troubled the Barnett Shale area in North Texas.

Porter is on target with his diagnosis of what went wrong in North Texas: too little information about the development process, which has been near populated areas, and a perception that the energy companies doing the work were calling the shots while the Railroad Commission was largely AWOL or doing the minimum to direct the process to ensure that public and environmental interests were protected.

To his credit, Porter is trying to avoid a repeat of that situation in South Texas and the public backlash that could hinder development of the region's immense resources. He has assembled a group of 22 stakeholders that includes representatives of drilling, pipeline and trucking companies, green energy experts and environmentalists, county and economic development officials, landowners and those who represent landowners, according a report by Vicki Vaughan of the San Antonio Express-News that ran in last Thursday's Chronicle.

Read the full news release at Chron.com