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Eagle Ford Shale is not about to go bust

  • Originally published June 30, 2012 at 5:15 p.m., updated June 30, 2012 at 5:15 p.m.

Editor, the Advocate:

I think it is possible that someone could come away after reading Thursday's article entitled "Communities should expect Eagle Ford Shale to go bust, researcher says" with the impression that the Eagle Ford boom is about to come to abrupt end. Since I delivered the presentation on which the article is based, I would like to clarify a couple of points. The recently released report from The University of Texas at San Antonio's Institute for Economic Development clearly forecasts that production in the Eagle Ford area has the potential to remain strong for at least 10 years, and very possibly much longer, as much as 40 years.

In fact in our report, the study authors did not use the word "bust" even in a single instance. While energy prices can have an impact on the levels of production activity, the June 28 article implies that activity in the Eagle Ford could cease altogether, which is inconsistent with any forecasts we have made, or anything I have said in public forums.

Activity in the Eagle Ford area will certainly fluctuate and eventually over time will decline, so we have encouraged communities to wisely invest the increased revenues in order to ensure financial sustainability for generations. However, industry analysts have estimated that the Eagle Ford may contain 5 billion or more barrels of recoverable oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, so it certainly appears that the "end" is a long way off.

Dr. Thomas Tunstall, San Antonio