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Oil and Gas Benefits and Challenges for Texas

More Texas oil and gas companies are expanding. In January 2014 Brenham Oil and Gas Inc. announced the purchase of a 100% and 74% revenue interest in the 332 acre Inez field prospect. This prospect is located in Victoria County, Texas. Brenham plans to drill a well to regain the potential of the Yegua, where a well was originally drilled in 1990 by Ken Petroleum Corp. Reserves in the well are estimated at four bcf of gas and 160,000 bbl of condensate. In the new well, Brenham plans to explore several intervals in the Jackson shale to conduct a petrophysical study. Brenham believes it can drill three to four new wells on the Inez lease.

Late last year, FieldPoint Petroleum Corp. and Riley Exploration Group signed a joint exploration agreement to horizontally drill in the Serbin field, which is 50 miles east of Austin, Texas. The Serbin field lies in Lee County and Bastrop County. FieldPoint will have a 25% interest and Riley a 75%. The two companies will pool their lease interests and drill 12 new horizontal wells in 2014. FieldPoint already has a working interest in 72 producing oil and gas wells in this field.

All of this has been continued good news on the growth of the oil and gas industry in our state. Last year at the annual meeting of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Joe Straus, said, “Every Texan should be grateful for the success of the state’s oil and gas industry. Every child in public school, every family that visits a state park, every business that transports personnel or equipment over roads.” He credited much of Texas’ successful economy and job creation to the oil and gas industry. Speaker Straus noted that all the success and booming economy had created some challenges. In the last decade, Texas’ population has grown by 6 million people, enough people to fill a whole other city the size of Houston.

As growth continues, there will be increased demand for things like water, electricity, roads and schools. But Speaker Straus believes Texas is meeting the challenges, and cites recent increases in funding for public schools and universities. The state government has also allocated $450 million for roads in the oil and gas corridor that has seen such an increase in traffic. So while the US Congress is reviled with a less than 10% approval rating, the Texas Legislature has a 53% approval rating and is trying to find viable solutions to these challenges, particularly in areas like education, water, and transportation. These are core areas Speaker Straus says the government should focus on. While the booming oil and gas sector has brought challenges, Speaker Straus said “(w)e cannot address our most serious issues without a healthy, vital oil and gas sector.”

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