Eagle Ford Shale exploiters experiencing "growing pains"

"Ahhhh! Don't you just love the smell of benzene in the morning??"

It looks like not everything as going as smooth as the Mayor and the city council would like for the exploiters of the Eagle Ford Shale.  With all the activity that is going on in and North of Webb county, all of a sudden it seems like South Texas might not have really been as prepared as they would have liked. Let's keep an eye on our Mayor and Seedy council just to make sure they don't rush in to give away our money to their heroes- the exploiters of the Eagle Ford Shale region.

From My.SA.com

there are constraints to growth in the Eagle Ford that will take time to overcome, experts said. There's a shortage of experienced crews and supplies, and more pipelines are needed to quickly get the product to market.

Costs, too, have risen. The cost of drilling a well has zoomed from about $5.25 million to as much as $10 million, Hall said, although some of the higher costs are attributed to more hydraulic fractures being done per well. That leads to increased production.

As production booms, getting the crude oil and natural gas to market could mean that “the wave of production will slam us in 18 to 24 months,” Hall said.

Keith Crawford, regional vice president at Dallas-based Regency Energy Partners LP, said there's another problem that isn't well known: the Eagle Ford's natural gas is sour, meaning it contains significant hydrogen sulfide that can damage pipes, and older pipelines can't handle it.

“All pipelines are designed for a particular type of gas,” Crawford said, and producers need to be aware that the sour gas must be treated to remove hydrogen sulfide before it can be transported. Steve Jacobs, president of Harvest Pipeline company, mentioned yet another constraint: bringing electric power to remote areas of the Eagle Ford to power pumps needed for pipelines.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Bumps-in-road-to-riches-2213531.php#ixzz1aXCbVwqn