Texas Shows Strong Employment in Second Quarter of 2014

 The Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas, Texas, recently released a report outlining performance of the state’s economy in the second quarter of 2014. Overall, the analysis shows Texas outperforming the US economy in a number of metrics.

Perhaps the most important number from the Dallas Fed’s report is job growth. Compared to US job growth at 2.4 percent, Texas employment expanded by an impressive 4.3 percent. This continues a decade-long trend of comparatively strong employment in Texas, and even suggests a significant acceleration in jobs numbers.

Job creation in Texas exceeded the rest of the country in all but a few sectors during the first half of 2014. Only manufacturing, construction, and select other service industries have lagged.

Much of the job growth in Texas is driven by commercial real estate activity and a booming energy sector. Drilling has increased during the past year, especially in the oil-rich Eagle Ford Shale, just south of San Antonio, Texas. In addition, while manufacturing has been relatively weak, employment numbers in those parts of the chemical industry linked to energy have seen notable increases. This further highlights the importance of the energy sector to Texas’ recent good economic fortune.

San Antonio Continues Sharp Growth Trend

 Thanks to a booming economy and robust oil and natural gas sector, metropolitan areas across Texas have begun experiencing large growth over the past several years. Perhaps no city has experienced more remarkable growth than San Antonio, which many once considered a sleepy Texas town with a history and not much else. As San Antonio continues to grow throughout the next decade, it looks prepared to rival the larger business hubs of Dallas and Houston.

San Antonio owes much of its growth to recent economic cooperation policies, which have established an active medical research community. San Antonio has also become known as an attractive destination for some of the world’s top companies, including Clear Channel Communications, H-E-B Supermarkets, USAA, and Valero Energy. In the wake of the South Texas Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas boom, San Antonio appears poised to receive another wave of business from oil and natural gas companies.

Waterless Fracking Shows Promise in Eagle Ford, Texas

 In the aftermath of the South Texas Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas boom, companies have begun searching for the best way to extract the natural resources from the earth. In recent years, a small Calgary-based energy company known as GasFrac developed a waterless fracking method that could become a ubiquitous technology in the oil and gas sector.

In traditional fracking, water is pumped a mile or more underground into deep shale formations. The sudden influx of water creates high levels of pressure, which cracks nearby rocks and releases bubbles of natural gas. In the waterless fracking method known as liquefied propane gas (LPG) fracturing, water is replaced with a thick propane gel that contains small particles of sand-like materials known as proppant.

LPG fracturing requires only about one-fourth of the truck trips as water fracking, which significantly reduces transportation costs and annoyances to neighbors on local roads. LPG also boosts well productivity by closing off certain pathways for gas to rise.

The Tierra Companies Makes New Advisory Board Appointments

 A prominent midstream energy services provider based in San Antonio, Texas, The Tierra Companies strives to attract leading minds to its advisory board. Since its inception, The Tierra Companies has built strong relationships with producers, refiners, and commercial end-users at the Eagle Ford Shale through the tireless work of its advisors.

In 2012, The Tierra Companies named a number of leading professionals to its advisory board, including J. Patrick Burk, president of the J.D. Fields Construction Products Division of J.D. Fields and Company. This distributor of steel line pipe and structural piling operates 12 offices around the country.

Moreover, Scott R. McArron joined the advisory board. As an advisor, he draws on extensive experience in commercial and consumer finance markets. He is also the president and founder of TreeMac Funding Group.

Other new additions to the company include Richard A. Rabinow, who worked for ExxonMobil for more than three decades before becoming a consultant to the pipeline industry, and Jason P. Stabell, who serves as the president, chief financial officer, and director of Merlon International, a major oil and gas exploration and production company.

The Tierra Companies Are a Service Leader in the Eagle Ford Shale

With the advent of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, the Eagle Ford Shale   in Texas has become one of the most active energy production areas in the United States.  Discovery of the shale only continues to gain momentum, especially with support from The Tierra Companies, which offers a wide range of midstream energy services, from crude oil trucking to pipeline infrastructure creation. The organization has teamed with many producers, refiners, and commercial end-users within Texas to support their work through the experience and expertise of a dedicated management team.

In the years after the Eagle Ford Shale was tapped, The Tierra Companies began growing its workforce at an impressive rate in order to keep up with demand. The organization secured financing to aid its expansion efforts, allowing it to continue delivering only the highest level of service.

In 2012, The Tierra Companies comprised three business units: Tierra Transportation, Tierra Pipeline, and Tierra Marketing. Tierra Transportation focuses on clients historically underserved by larger transporters and built a sizable base of regular customers. Tierra Pipeline held a right-of-way positioned in the center of the Eagle Ford Shale, which ran from Corpus Christi to San Antonio. Tierra Marketing partnered with several small- and medium-volume producers working in the area.