Shale activity rock-solid in thriving energy market
With the 2008 discovery of the Eagle Ford Shale, a hydrocarbon-producing formation underlying much of south Texas, the state has seen an unprecedented surge in its energy market, as well as a promising and booming output from its shale industry.
The rise in domestic shale production in the last few years also is boosting local employment opportunities, with the industry expected to add 1.3 million new jobs by 2020, according to a report by the International Association of Geophysical Contractors.
In fact, in the Eagle Ford Shale region, energy companies hired more than 260 new workers every day in 2012.
Eagle Ford’s significant importance to the shale industry is due to its capability of producing both gas and more oil than other traditional shale plays in a sedimen- tary rock formation. The region contains a much higher carbonate shale percentage, upward of 70 percent in south Texas, which makes the formation more brittle and “frackable,” according to the Railroad Commission of Texas.
One company involved in shale production is Rosetta Resources, an independent oil and gas company headquartered in Houston.
“Rosetta Resources is active in the Eagle Ford and Permian basins in South and West Texas, respectively,” said Lauren Rykert, senior vice president of Human Resources at Rosetta Resources. “Our company is actively recruiting talent that will be required to support our development and exploration operations. Both areas where we operate are extremely competitive hiring markets, as increased domestic shale production is boosting employment opportunities.”
Despite the exciting contributions to energy production that the application of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has provided, the market for petroleum engineers and technicians is still very tight. Rykert attributed this to the oil and gas “bust” in the 1980s, during which there was a decline in the number of students entering petroleum engineering degree programs.
“There was a ‘skipped generation’ as college students avoided the field due
to the perception of lack of opportunity. Petroleum engineering university programs are now growing as the industry has significantly rebounded, but there is a gap in experience levels in the 10- to 20-year range,” Rykert said. “The industry is also facing the loss of the ‘baby boom’ generation as these individuals are nearing retirement age.”
The growing number of employment opportunities across the state due to the Eagle Ford Shale, in conjunction with a sluggish supply of new talent, means industry employers are eager to search for and hire qualified engineers.
“We seek experienced engineers and geoscientists in the exploration and production industry with petroleum engineering, geoscience or related degrees. We maintain an internship program as a method to establish a pipeline to future engineering talent and introduce students to opportunities...,” Rykert said.
In addition to a strong engineering team, shale industry employers are seeking qualified skilled laborers to join the shale production workforce, including lease operators, production and construction foremen and completion supervisors.
According to an article in the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ Southwest Economy research publication titled Oil Boom in Eagle Shale Brings New Wealth to South Texas, since the Eagle Ford discovery, drilling and exploration have had a strong positive economic impact in south Texas, particularly in the 23 Eagle Ford counties. For counties where the job growth has been the strongest — McMullen, Dimmit, La Salle, Live Oak and Lee — retail sales grew at an annual rate of 55.1 percent.