The Eagle Ford Shale, located in Central and South Texas and extending into East Texas, is the Lone Star State’s second most productive oil field (and, it’s worth mentioning, the Eagle Ford is also the nation’s second most productive oil field).
The Eagle Ford Shale, for many years, remained in relative obscurity within the realm of oil and gas exploration. Prior to 2008, it existed on the periphery of industry attention. While known to contain substantial hydrocarbon reserves and believed to serve as the source rock for the oil and natural gas extracted from overlying formations, such as the Austin Chalk, the Eagle Ford itself was not regarded as a prolific producer. The culprit for this underwhelming reputation lay in its exceptionally low permeability; the rock was virtually impervious to the passage of oil and natural gas, rendering production from the formation seemingly impossible.
The turning point arrived in 2008 when a groundbreaking drilling operation was executed in La Salle County, near the Texas town of Cotulla. This well, upon completion, astoundingly yielded an initial flow rate of 7.6 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The significance of this achievement was monumental — it showcased the efficacy of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in unlocking the potential of the Eagle Ford Shale. These techniques, identical to those used to revolutionize the Barnett Shale in North Texas, initiated a seismic shift in the industry’s perception of the Eagle Ford.
Following this remarkable success, more drilling companies swiftly adopted hydraulic fracturing to create fractures in the Eagle Ford Shale at multiple locations. These fractures, in turn, facilitated the movement of natural gas and oil from the rock into the production well.
In conjunction with hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling emerged as a vital tool in well development, thus effectively unleashing the latent potential of the Eagle Ford Shale.
Within a few years, the Eagle Ford Shale swiftly transformed into one of the most intensively drilled rock units, not just in the Lone Star State, but the whole United States, altering the landscape of the Texas oil and gas industry forever.
Today, the Eagle Ford Shale produces 1.1 million barrels of oil per day (mb/d) and 7.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (bcf/d) – 8.3% of total U.S. crude oil production and 6.3% of U.S. natural gas production, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The industry supports thousands of jobs in the local Eagle Ford communities, paying billions in wages. Industry also pays millions to local county government and independent school districts (ISDs). In Fiscal Year 2022, ISDs in the Eagle Ford $413.6 million in property taxes from oil and natural gas production, pipelines and gas utilities, while counties received $141.4 million, according to data from the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA).
“The Texas oil and natural gas industry plays an extraordinary role in securing our state and national economy and advancing global stability,” TXOGA president Todd Staples is quoted as saying in announcing the economic data. According to TXOGA, oil and natural gas tax and royalty revenue is used to support education, transportation, healthcare and infrastructure, both locally in communities across Texas and through royalty and tax revenue that is paid into the Economic Stabilization Fund (commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund), the Permanent School Fund (PSF) and the Permanent University Fund (PUF)—all of which are funded almost exclusively with taxes and state royalties paid by the oil and natural gas industry.
Industry and industry partners in the Eagle Ford are also involved in diligent efforts to protect the environment, develop innovative technologies, make safety a top priority, and give back to the communities they serve, as exhibited by the South Texas Energy and Economic Roundtable’s (STEER) Eagle Ford Excellence Awards. The awards ceremony, held earlier this month in San Antonio on the northern edge of the Eagle Ford Shale, recognized excellence on the part of Eagle Ford-area companies and organizations in the areas of Community and Social Investment, Environmental Stewardship, Neighborhood Impression, and Innovation in Technology.
“The recipients of the 11th annual Eagle Ford Excellence Award raised the bar for the innovative ways they serve their communities, protect and improve the environment and incorporate the latest technologies into their operations,” said Glynis Strause, Stakeholder Relations Director at ConocoPhillips and chair of the STEER Advisory Council. Strause went on to say that the award recipients’ efforts are “strengthening South Texas communities and bolstering our nation’s energy security every day,”
Award recipients were honored for efforts to provide charitable support to local nonprofit organizations, advance conservation efforts, enhance environmental and social impacts, and run operations more safely and efficiently.
With estimated mean reserves of 8.5 billion barrels of oil, 66 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.9 billion barrels of natural gas liquids according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as well as an abundance of community support and proven local benefits, the Eagle Ford Shale is poised to provide Texas, the U.S. and the world with the power and products that help make modern life possible for years to come.
