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New businesses, drilling projects mean revenue for Karnes County

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  • Allison Miles •
  • Originally published July 27, 2010 at midnight, updated August 7, 2010 at 3:45 p.m.

  • KARNES COUNTY IN A NUTSHELLPopulation: 15,029

    County seat: Karnes City

    County size: 750 square miles

    Source: http://www.txcip.org/tac/census/profile.php?FIPS=48255

KARNES CITY - Call it what you want: black gold, Texas tea or just plain oil.

Whatever the name, it can mean big bucks. And one area Texas county is seeing that firsthand.

Between new businesses, drilling projects and more, growth is in the cards for Karnes County.

The up-and-coming boost began with the Sugarloaf well Texas Crude put in several years back, said Joe Sheeran, outgoing president of the Kenedy Chamber of Commerce. It grew from there.

On June 29, Pioneer Natural Resources announced a $1.5 billion Eagle Ford Shale venture with Reliance Industries. The plan includes drilling 26 wells through December and increasing the number over time.

The company has wells under way in Karnes, Live Oak and DeWitt counties.

That same day, Enterprise Products Partners, announced several new construction projects relating to the Eagle Ford Shale drilling. One such project was expanding a 140-mile crude oil pipeline system, which stretches from Karnes County to Austin County.

Select Energy Services is also looking at constructing an $8 million operational facility that could mean about 250 new jobs for the community, said Ray Kroll, executive director of the Karnes County Economic & Community Development Corp.

The commissioners court will soon vote on a tax abatement for the project, he said, and construction will begin.

Three other companies, Conoco-Phillips, XTO and Enduring have leased land in the area and plan to drill, Sheeran said.

"There's a lot of expansion happening here, a lot going on," he said, explaining drilling could last anywhere from three to 10 years. "Probably by this time next year, we'll have 100 rigs in the area. Maybe more."

Drilling isn't the only new development under way.

New businesses are also headed to Karnes County.

The Autumn Leaves Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is an approximately $9.8 million investment in the community's future, Kroll said. Tierra Point, a $10.7 million, 80-unit apartment complex, is slated to break ground Aug. 19.

The apartments are good news for a county in need of additional housing options, Kroll said. Karnes and nearby counties all have a housing shortage, he explained, especially with ongoing drilling projects.

"We have probably 200 people working in the county every day that are staying in surrounding counties because all the hotels are full," he said. "There's not an empty room to be rented in the county."

Lifelong Karnes County resident Ruben Munoz stood outside the State Motel, a business his wife runs. Like many in the area, it was booked to capacity.

"We've got a full house because of the drilling," the Karnes County employee said. "It's been like this since January."

It will be nice to see the community grow in number of residents and business-wise, Munoz said.

"Everybody will be busy," he said. "Hotels, stores, it will be good for everybody."

Not every businessman has seen those effects yet.

Tracy Witte, who has managed Looney's Supermarket for 30 years, said that, so far, he hasn't seen much added business come in.

Convenience stores are more likely to see the growth now, simply because there isn't space for people to stay throughout the region, he said.

"People blow through here, buy gas and then get their things at the convenience stores," he said. "It's tough. The economy's still down."

Witte said he expects things to turn around in the future.

The new apartment complex will help and, with the added businesses, it might mean more families moving in.

The projects have brought excitement, he said.

"That's nice to have," he said. "There's been a lull ever since the economy went in the trash can."

Even more change is on its way.

The Uranium Energy Corp., which purchased the area's uranium processing facility in Hobson, will soon begin full production and another company is interested in Kenedy's old Walmart building.

All in all, it's pretty exciting, Kroll said.

"It's absolutely insane, in a good way," he said. "In a great way."


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