What is eagle ford shale
Fracking has become significantly more effective since the innovation of horizontal drilling. The Eagle Ford Shale yields both wet and dry gas. The shale is attracting both domestic and foreign companies that are becoming one of the largest employers in the state, according to the paper.
A UTSA study suggests there will be 5, new wells by , which may add 68, full-time jobs in Texas. The first well was drilled in the Eagle Ford Share in The number of producing oil leases in the Eagle Ford Shale increased by about 6, percent from to The number of producing natural gas leases increased by about 3, percent from to The oil and gas producing site was first discovered by Petrohawk— an independent oil and natural gas company— in Between January and March , , barrels of oil and 3, cubic feet of natural gas were produced per day.
Shale is very fine-grained, highly compressed sediment mixed with ancient composted plant and animal remains. It is formed when large forested soil beds are buried and pushed underground for hundreds of millions of years without being pushed so deep that they melt. Shale is often rich in fossil fuels.
Under intense pressure for long periods of time, decomposed matter from ancient plants and animals will morph into fossil fuels — oil, coal and natural gas. The energy in fossil fuels comes from carbon manufactured by plants using energy from sunlight.
This story originally ran as part of KUT Five years ago the census put the population at less than 4, […].
That first well has led to a surge in Eagle Ford drilling activity, so much so that production has grown from basically nothing in to respective totals of 1. Still, the commodity price rout that began in and continued through was taking its toll on the Eagle Ford, too. The production growth in the Eagle Ford has increased, despite the fact that the drilling rig count in the play has fallen from rigs on May 25, to 80 rigs in early October Part of the decline is because of the transition to multi-well pad drilling, which enables more wells to be drilled per rig.
Production growth has also been helped by a number of other factors, such as downspacing, the migration to longer laterals, and better completion techniques. Part of the allure of the Eagle Ford area is it is home to several stacked oil and gas formations that lie above and below the Eagle Ford, such as the Olmos and Austin Chalk above , and the Buda and Georgetown Lime below.
The Pearsall Shale also lies beneath the Eagle Ford. Several companies are testing whether the Upper Eagle Ford and Lower Eagle Ford are in fact separate formations in certain parts of the play, which would likely increase the number of productive wells that could be drilled in the formation.
According to an October presentation by Earthstone Energy, there were more than 30 Upper Eagle Ford wells completed by multiple operators. The formation is divided into three zones, commonly referred to as windows Chart 1. The northernmost window contains oil. The southernmost contains natural gas. And the central window contains natural gas liquids, such as ethane, propane and butane, which are used to produce a variety of industrial products.
Initially, drillers in the region exploited its natural gas resources. But after natural gas prices began falling in , they transitioned their production to the regions rich in oil and natural gas liquids, where favorable prices continue Chart 2. Petrohawk Energy Corp. This natural gas well in La Salle County was very successful, producing 7. The Texas Railroad Commission issued 1, permits in , up from just 92 permits in Chart 3. Growth continued at a rapid pace, and in , oil production in the Eagle Ford reached 1 million barrels per day.
Small, rural communities make up most of the counties in the Eagle Ford. The shale revolution has brought significant changes to local economies.
Oil production growth in Eagle Ford began accelerating in Production in the region approximately doubled every year between and Since , production has come down but remains significantly higher than in The share of U. In January , the Eagle Ford produced just 1 percent of U. The pace of production growth has varied across the counties in the Eagle Ford.
Some counties have experienced especially dramatic growth. For instance, in first quarter , La Salle county produced only barrels per day, but by fourth quarter , it yielded , barrels per day. Natural gas production in the Eagle Ford has increased an average of As a result of these increases, the Eagle Ford now accounts for 5. As with oil production, the growth rate of natural gas production has varied substantially across counties in the Eagle Ford.
Natural gas production has grown fastest in Gonzales and Dimmit counties, which have recorded annual increases of approximately 50 percent since first quarter Webb County remains the largest natural gas producer in the region.