Petro

Texas oil and gas activity is looking up after months of declining rig counts and stagnant natural gas prices, nudging an industry barometer, the Texas Petro Index (TPI), up in March.

Overall oil production in Texas declined somewhat in January from December, according to preliminary January production figures from the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC). But the Eagle Ford Shale kept on pumping, with leading Eagle Ford counties charting substantial oil production increases from year-ago levels.

Westlake Chemical Corp.’s previously announced expansion of the Petro 2 ethylene unit at its complex in Lake Charles, LA, has begun. This expansion will be completed in conjunction with a planned maintenance turnaround and will increase ethane-based ethylene capacity by 230-240 million pounds annually in support of the company’s ethylene integration strategy. The unit is expected to be down approximately 60 days for the work to be completed.

Enbridge Inc. unit Enbridge Rail (Philadelphia) LLC and Canopy Prospecting Inc. have formed the Eddystone Rail Co. to develop a unit-train facility and related pipeline infrastructure near Philadelphia, PA, to deliver Bakken and other light sweet crude oil to Philadelphia area refineries.

The Texas Petro Index (TPI), an indicator of the health of the state’s oil and gas industry compiled by a Texas Alliance of Energy Producers economist, posted its first decline in two and a half years due to declining crude prices and continuing natural gas price weakness.

The Texas Petro Index (TPI), an indicator of the health of the state’s oil and gas industry compiled by a Texas Alliance of Energy Producers economist, posted its first decline in two and a half years due to declining crude prices and continuing natural gas price weakness.

An estimated 224,200 people were employed by Texas’ oil and gas industry in June, a nearly 15% increase compared with June 2010, according to the most recent Texas Petro Index (TPI). “Post-recession job growth in Texas has been among the strongest in the nation, and the oil and gas industry in Texas deserves most of the credit for that,” said petroleum economist Karr Ingham, who designed the TPI. June’s employment figure marks the first time more Texans have been working in the industry than in October 2008, the peak of the industry’s last boom, Ingham said. Directly or indirectly, the industry accounted for 66% of total job growth in Texas during the 12-month period, Ingham said. The TPI, which measures a group of upstream economic indicators, rose in June to 243.5 from a low in December 2009 of 186.6. It was the eighteenth straight month to show an increase. The TPI, which peaked at 286 in September and October 2008, was 208 in June 2010 (see NGI, Aug. 2, 2010). According to latest TPI, Texas’ estimated gas output in June was 576.5 Bcf, which was down about 6.1% from a year ago. But the value of Texas-produced gas was $2.46 billion, about 0.2% more than in June 2010.

An estimated 224,200 people were employed by Texas’ oil and gas industry in June, a nearly 15% increase compared with June 2010, according to the most recent Texas Petro Index (TPI).

Global buyout firm TPG Capital said Wednesday it has launched Petro Harvester Oil & Gas LLC (Harvester) to purchase North American oil and natural gas properties.