Eagle Ford Counties Win Award for Legislative Initiatives

December 20, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

Eagle Ford county officials were honored this week for their legislative initiatives to improve the regions’ roadways.

On Monday, the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) awarded DeWitt, Gonzales, Karnes, Live Oak and McMullen county officials a 2016 Best Practices Award for their work to get legislation passed that would set aside money for much needed repairs on their county roads.

The Best Practices Awards Program recognizes accomplishments and best practices in county government. Through this program, TAC:

Highlights innovation and distributes vital information on what’s working in county government
Encourages recognition and inspiration for all county leaders; and
Improves the general public’s perception of their county government and the value of their county’s programs.

In small towns all across the Eagle Ford, oil and gas activity has left a mess of the county roads system. Poor road conditions, increased traffic and heavy equipment brought on by the oil boom have contributed to the unsafe conditions. Often, the counties have not been able to keep up with the problems caused by the increased volume.

House Bill 1747, which passed in the 83rd legislative session, created the County Energy Transportation Reinvestment Zones that allows counties to collect taxes on mineral values in order to repair roads and bridges. The bill also lets counties apply for reimbursement grants to cover up to 90 percent of transportation repair projects.

DeWitt County Judge Daryl Fowler expressed his hope that this successful county-wide collaboration would be an example for other parts of Texas.

“Problems may be formidable, but as we’ve seen here, when you join forces with like-minded groups, you can conquer a lot of big issues,” he said. “There are more voices, more testimony, more practical experience and concrete proof in many cases that our needs were not being met and the Legislature was our only hope.”

The association also awarded DeWitt, Gonzales and Karnes county officials a 2016 Best Practices Award for their initiative to have House Bill 2521 passed in the 84th legislative session.

Texas Drilling Permits Down

December 19, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

Texas drilling permits are down, but there are many signs things are looking up for the Eagle Ford.

Texas Railroad Commission announced it issued 673 original drilling permits in November 2016 compared, a drop from the 687 issued in November 2015. This total includes:

581 permits to drill new oil or gas wells
10 to re-enter plugged well bores and 82 for re-completions of existing well bores
145 for oil
38 for gas
449 for oil or gas
36 for injection

Total well completions for 2016 were 9,923, almost half of what they were a year ago (18,510).

“The strategic value of the Eagle Ford stands the test of time, so even in the down cycle the values are still very strong.” -Mark Sooby, managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch at DUC Conference ”

Much has changed in the oil and gas industry over the past two years, but the Eagle Ford Shale Play still holds great value for investors and operators.

Researchers from the UT’s Bureau of Economic Geology say that the 400-mile field has seen just a fraction of its ultimate activity and their new study predicts that another 100,000 wells can still be drilled.
Eagle Ford operators are reducing costs and cycle time and improving recoveries
The Eagle Ford Shale rig count has grown steadily from 39 in October to 53 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

Eagle Ford Operators Bring One Rig Online this Week

December 17, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count grew this week, with our data showing 53 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford news, Baytex Energy announces that 70% of its 2017 capital expenditures will be directed to its Eagle Ford operations.

A total of 637 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, a gain of 14 over last week. 126 rigs targeted natural gas (one more than the previous week) and 510 were targeting oil in the U.S. (12 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 317 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. The rig count published on EagleFordShale.com includes a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Nine rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity dipping to $3.42/mmbtu.

44 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices gaining slightly to $51.90.

A total of 48 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells and five are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 14 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale News

Wildhorse Development Corp. Goes Public

New Eagle Ford Refinery to Bring Jobs

Baytex Energy to Spend 70% of 2017 Capex in Eagle Ford

Eagle Ford Couple Loses Claim in Texas Courts

What is the Rig Count?

The Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across a 30 county area in South Texas. The South Texas rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by Baker Hughes and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford formation. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count.

WildHorse Development Corp. Goes Public

December 15, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

**Wildhorse Resources to Expand its Presence in the Eagle Ford**

The newest public E&P company in the region plans to focus on development in the Eagle Ford Shale.

Houston-based Wildhorse Resource Development Corp. has launched its initial public offering for $664 million, more than the expected $650 million filed in November.

WildHorse plans to use some of the proceeds to expand its position in the Eagle Ford. The company will move forward with its acquisition of 158,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale known as “Burleson North” from Clayton Williams Energy for $400 million. SEC documents verify that the company made a down payment of $45 million in October for the property, which produced 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day during the third quarter of 2016.

“As of September 30, 2016, we had assembled a total leasehold position of approximately 375,000 net acres across our expanding acreage, including approximately 267,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford and approximately 108,000 net acres in North Louisiana. We have identified a total of approximately 4,391 gross (2,298 net) drilling locations across our acreage, with further upside potential given the multiple stacked pay zones across much of our acreage. Based on our 2017 drilling program, our identified locations represent an inventory of approximately 46 years.”

Wildhorse’s horizontal drilling locations target the Eagle Ford Shale in Burleson and Lee Counties and the Austin Chalk in Washington County. The company said their technical expertise allowed them to drill twice as many wells per rig on their Eagle Ford Acreage during the first nine months of 2016 f their .

Baytex Energy to Spend 70% of 2017 Capex in Eagle Ford

December 14, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

**Baytex Energy to Spend 70% Capex on Eagle Ford in 2017**

Baytex Energy announces that 70% of its 2017 capital expenditures will be directed to its Eagle Ford operations.

Just weeks after reporting a strong third quarter, Calgary-based, Baytex Energy has announced their 2017 capital budget of $300 to $350 million, which is heavily weighted to drilling and completion activities.

Baytex Energy’s Eagle Ford operations will see about 70% of the capital program. The company plans to have four to five drilling rigs and two completion crews working the area. This is an increase from two to three rigs in the third quarter. The company’s costs in the Eagle Ford continue have dropped and wells are now being ceing drilled, completed and equipped for approximately $5 million.

“We have designed our 2017 budget to be flexible should we continue to experience a volatile commodity price environment.”

— James Bowzer, Chief Executive Officer

Baytex also announced that will succeed James Bowzer as Chief Executive Officer in May 2017. Mr. Bowzer has seved as the President of Baytex since 2012.

“I am thrilled to be leading Baytex as we build operational momentum in 2017. I’ve had an opportunity to work first-hand with our talented teams on the quality and growth potential of our asset base. I am pleased to be inheriting a highly focused organization poised to build our core oil plays, and take on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

— Ed LaFehr, Incoming CEO

Other Eagle Ford highlights year-to-date include:

Exploration and development expenditures totaled $39.6 million, as compared to $35.5 million in Q2/2016 and $81.7 million in Q1/2016.
The pace of completions in the Eagle Ford was down approximately 21% from January-September, compared to the first nine months of 2015.
Participated in the drilling of 100 gross (29.5 net) wells in the Eagle Ford
Commenced production from 84 gross (24.7 net) wells, as compared to the first nine months of 2015 where we participated in the drilling of 149 gross (38.4 net) wells and commenced production from 123 gross (31.3 net) wells.
Continue to advance completion activity in the Eagle Ford with increased frac stages and proppant usage.