South Texas’ Eagle Ford could have billions of crude barrels left to pump

By Rye Druzin of The San Antonio Express-News. Excerpts:

"The Eagle Ford Shale field could still have billion of barrels of oil to pump, potentially making it the second largest oil field in the U.S.

In a report published Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said the Eagle Ford — which stretches from the Texas-Mexico border into Louisiana — could contain 8.5 billion barrels of undiscovered and technically recoverable oil.

That would make it second in the U.S. for oil reserves, just ahead of the 7.4 billion barrels estimated to remain undiscovered in the Williston Basin of North Dakota.

West Texas’ Permian Basin, the name for a larger set of basins that includes the Wolfcamp and Midland basins, still reigns No. 1 with 20 billion barrels of undiscovered and technically recoverable oil, according to the U.S.G.S."

"The Eagle Ford may also have 66 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, making it tied for third in the U.S. with the Niobrara Basin in Colorado and Wyoming for potential natural gas reserves."