Emergency responders were wrapping up their work Thursday afternoon at the site of a reported explosion at a drilling rig in the Eagle Ford Shale in Falls City in Karnes County, TX. According to press reports, two people had been hospitalized. The explosion reportedly occurred just before noon. The Karnes County sheriff was not available for comment, but a deputy said at 2:30 CDT that crews were preparing to leave the scene. The rig was reported to be targeting oil; the name of its owner/operator was not available at press time. Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Jason Reyes told the San Antonio Express-News that a truck driver who was transferring oil was injured when a truck was set on fire and ignited the explosion. The driver received second- and third-degree burns, he said. In a separate incident Monday night an explosion and fire occurred at a Continental Resources natural gas well in Oklahoma; there were no injuries (see Daily GPI, Sept. 21).

Imerys, a French minerals manufacturer and distributor, has opened a $60 million ceramic proppant production unit at its existing facilities in Andersonville, GA. The Paris-based company said it plans to use multi-year contracts to cover the production unit’s annual production capacity of more than 100,000 tons. Imerys said the line would go through commissioning and ramp-up phases before becoming fully operational by the end of the year.

Canada’s Lakeside Steel Inc. said construction was ahead of schedule on its $7.5 million tubing thermal and end-finishing facility in Thomasville, AL. The company said tubing production at Lakeside Steel Alabama could begin in February, four months ahead of the original completion date. Lakeside said the facility would meet increased demand for N80, L80 and P110-grade steel tubing used in shale drilling.

Canada’s BNK Petroleum Inc. subsidiary Trofagas Hidrocarburos SL was awarded a concession totaling 234,000 acres in the autonomous region of Castile and Leon, Spain. BNK said the acreage in the Cantabrian Basin was acquired primarily for shale gas targets but some conventional oil and gas resources are present. With the acquisition, BNK’s position in Europe increases to about 3.8 million net acres in five separate basins.