Ford

At the close of a turbulent year, EXCO Resources Inc. ended 2013 with production decreases and a rising tide of red ink, but moves it made in the Eagle Ford Shale last year may be the light at the end of the tunnel, company officials said.

Shares of Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. lost nearly 38% of their value Wednesday after the company said it was deferring drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale while it mulls 3D seismic data and evaluates recent well completion designs due to poor well performance. Capital is to be redirected from the South Texas play to liquids-rich opportunities in the Ark-La-Tex.

Eagle Ford Shale crude oil producers now have a new option for transportation as NuStar Energy LP has completed construction of its private marine loading dock at its North Beach Terminal in Corpus Christi, TX, and has its first ship at the dock to be loaded with crude oil.

Calgary-based Baytex Energy Corp. is buying out Eagle Ford Shale player Aurora Oil & Gas Ltd. of Perth, Australia in a cash and debt deal worth C$2.6 billion (US$2.36 billion).

Dallas-based Southcross Energy Partners LP has begun construction of a 94-mile, 24-inch diameter pipeline in the rich gas area of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. The Webb Pipeline is expected to have initial uncompressed capacity of 300 MMcf/d.

Eagle Ford Shale activities will continue to power growth at Houston-based Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. this year, management told analysts Tuesday, while the company remains “very encouraged” by its first well results in the Utica Shale in Ohio. One analyst suggested that Niobrara assets could be jettisoned with proceeds redeployed to South Texas.

Armed with modern drilling technologies and results from vertical wells past, operators have been returning to the Buda Limestone Formation, a downstairs neighbor of the Eagle Ford Shale, and plying it with horizontal wells and lessons from the revitalization of the similar and shallower Austin Chalk.

About 90% of Sanchez Energy Corp.’s drilling and completion spending this year will target the Eagle Ford Shale, with the remainder going to the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) where the company expects industry activity, and learning, to accelerate.

Production from the prolific Eagle Ford Shale will increase this year as operators lay down close to $30 billion to unearth more crude oil and liquids, new research is claiming.