Tuscaloosa shale can benefit BR, N.O. economies

12 03, 2013 by The Advocate

The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale’s development will benefit the economies of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Goodrich Petroleum Corp. President Robert Turnham Jr. said Tuesday.

The Bakken Shale in South Dakota and the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas have generated oil and gas industry jobs and triggered economic surges.

“You can’t find workers in the Bakken …. You have truck drivers in the Eagle Ford making close to $100,000” a year, Turnham said.

Turnham was one of the keynote speakers at the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Summit in Baton Rouge.

Turnham said the more experience drillers gain in the Tuscaloosa, which stretches through the center of Louisiana into Mississippi, the more efficient they become.

He said Goodrich doesn’t want to be arrogant by saying it’s cracked the code to drilling in the Tuscaloosa, but the company is getting closer, he said.

The company’s Crosby well has produced 140,000 barrels in 8½ months, a better rate than the average for Eagle Ford or the Bakken.

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