The Eagle Ford shale play is named for the town of Eagle Ford, Texas and it is approximately 6 miles west of Dallas, Texas. This shale is unique due to its capability of producing both gas and more oil than other traditional shale plays. The play trends across Texas from the Mexican border up into East Texas, roughly 50 miles wide and 400 miles long spanning nearly 20,000 square miles and 12.8 million acres. Geological researchers are estimating that these fields hold 7 billion to 10 billion barrels of oil.
There are approximately 30 counties that make up this play and they are all quickly being considered an oil industry hotbed. The first well was drilled in 2008 in La Salle County by Petrohawk and many followed thereafter. Every year the play has more key players which increases total production. Oil production has increased from 352 barrels per day in 2008 to 909,661 earlier this year. There are currently over 200 active rigs making this an increasingly popular location for many operators to target. Some of the majors who are in this area are Anadarko, Apache, Atlas, EOG Resources, Lewis Petroleum, Geo Southern, Pioneer, SM Energy and XTO, to name just a few.
There are two reasons why Eagle Ford crude is particularly prized by refiners. First, it is exceptionally light and sweet, making it cheap to refine. Second, the field is located just 100 miles from major refining hubs in Houston and Corpus Christi making it especially inexpensive to transport. And unlike other formations, investors should not have to worry about pipeline capacity issues happening in the future. With all of this production, do not hesitate to call OTA Compression for any advice, testing or equipment you may need. We specialize in vapor recovery units, vapor towers, combustors and compliance testing. We know how important run time is on your units, therefore we have several mechanics in the Eagle Ford area to maintain and resolve any issues that may arise. Below are some graphs depicting current drilling permits issued, total natural gas production, oil production statistics and condensate liquid production from 2008 to August 2014.
