Falfurrias, Texas: Smugglers taking toll on South Texas

FALFURRIAS, Texas – After several hours of surveillance, the pursuit was on. A smuggler loaded down with illegal immigrants in an SUV last month tried to outrun a trail of law enforcement vehicles, with more waiting up ahead on Highway 281 north of Falfurrias.

Finally, yanking his vehicle onto the shoulder, stopping short of a landowner’s fence, the smuggler’s human cargo bailed out, running into the brush, followed closely by sheriff’s deputies from Brooks and Jim Wells County, and U.S. Border Patrol agents.

“We’re doing it with the manpower that we have and that’s where it hurts,” said Capt. Joe Martinez, of the Jim Wells Sheriff’s Office. “We don’t have the manpower.”

According to Susan Durham, executive director of the South Texans’ Property Rights Association, most counties do not get federal funding for more manpower, unlike those that are within 25 miles of the border.

“There’s already funds in place for them,” Durham said. “But that’s not where the border is anymore.”

Durham said landowners often are being overrun by smugglers who crash through fences and gates, going cross-country from ranch to ranch, usually in stolen trucks.

She said just in the past eight months, several ranches in Jim Wells and Brooks counties have seen 24 bailouts.

Each incident has averaged $540 in repairs to fences and gates, Durham said.

“Now if they compensate the people right away, it would be a lot different,” said Raul Garcia, a longtime rancher.

After at least two bailouts on his property, Garcia said he was warned he would be prosecuted if he shot anyone.

Garcia said he’s heard other ranchers are putting spikes facing traffic on their ranch gates.

“They try to ram them, they’ll bust the radiator,” Garcia said.

Durham said her organization helped revise the state’s transportation code to reimburse landowners for the property damage.

She said the money initially would have been excess funds from the sale of abandoned vehicles.

“Excess means what’s left over after paying expenses such as towing and storage,” Durham said.

But Durham said there’s been a snag in the funding for the program that would have used Brooks County as a template for the rest of South Texas.

“Smugglers are gaming the system by using vehicles that are stolen or that have high liens on them,” Durham said.

She said they also use the “innocent friend excuse,” telling authorities they loaned the vehicle to a friend unaware it would be used for smuggling.

As a result, Durham said her organization will go back to the Texas Legislature, and even ask the federal government for help.

Source

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Grid Petroleum Corp. — Announces Joint Venture Development Agreement for New Area of Interest

DENVER, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Grid Petroleum Corp. (OTCBB: GRPR) The Board of Directors are pleased to announce that Grid Petroleum has entered into a Joint Venture Development Agreement with a private holding company, to develop a Mutual Area of Interest in the Northwest Premont Field in Jim Wells County Texas. The Field covers 4,500 acres and is part of the Gulf Coast Trend in South Texas.

Reserves are estimated to contain over 20 million barrels of oil (bbls) and 20 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas from as many as 15 potentially productive zones per well. The initial phase of the Development Agreement outlines the drilling and completion of 20 new wells and the re-entry of 8 additional previously drilled and completed shut-in wells.

The company had previously announced negotiations to purchase the private holding company, however it has been determined a Joint Venture Development Agreement will serve the company and its shareholders more beneficially in the near term.

Grid Petroleum will begin participation with the second well to be drilled under the Joint Venture Development Agreement at a level of 10% for an investment of $152,000.

Grid has the opportunity to make the Companies first investment into the Joint Venture after the results of the first well-drilled and completed are available for analysis, greatly reducing the risk of the investment by Grid Petroleum into the entire field.

The purpose of the development of the Northwest Premont Field is to create value and income by re-entering certain wells, which have been tested and have proven oil and gas producing zones, and the drilling of strategically located wells containing multiple zone production in a manner that produces high rates of stable production; proving the reserves of the underlying pay zones for further development of the field through production.

To date the fields operator has re-entered two wells, the Guerra #2 and the Garcia #2. The Guerra #2 was drilled to 4,000 feet and tested positively for oil and gas in 12 potentially productive sand zones encountering 118 net feet of pay.

AP Yang, Petroleum Engineers of Houston Texas ran 45 days of open flow tests to draw down the pressure of each of the productive zones in the well. The absolute open flow rate calculations indicated the lobe flow of the Laughlin oil sand deposit tested at 15,541,000 cubic feet gas per day. The upper lobe flow tested at 5,063,000 cubic feet peer day. The combined total of 20,604,000 cubic feet per day from 16 feet of net pay zone for this one well with multiple pay zones.

Preliminary Reserves Estimates for the Guerra #2 are 100,000 to 150,000 Barrels of oil and 1.5 Billion Cubic Feet to 2.5 Billion Cubic Feet of natural gas.

The second re entry well the Garcia #2 is co-mingling two gas zones with production averaging 1.0 million cubic feet of gas per day. An Oil zone is also producing an average of 39 barrels of oil per day. Reserve estimates for the Garcia #2 will have similar potential production levels as the Guerra #2.

The current price of gas ranges between $2.75 and $3.00 per mcf.

20 million cubic feet per day of gas production represents a potential gross of $60,000.00 per day.

Grid Petroleum Corp is a development stage company focused on the acquisition and development of low cost high reward oil and gas prospects with infield drilling for proven potential reserves in the United States and Canada.

The company anticipates the initiation of a development plan with its joint venture partners for the purpose of establishing suitable drill sites for the Kreyenhagen Trend leases.

Upon completion the company will have established a time line for the development of its significant Oil and Gas assets.

www.gridpetroleum.com

Shale Drilling boosts South Texas sales tax revenues

By Mike D. Smith
Posted January 2, 2012 at 6:32 p.m.

CORPUS CHRISTI — Cities across South Texas are coasting atop rising sales tax revenues strongly driven by two factors: retail and shale.

The Texas Comptroller‘s Office allocated more than $4 million to Corpus Christi in December.

The payment brings the city’s yearly total to more than $62.7 million, or 12 percent higher than what the city received by late 2010, figures show.

Monthly sales tax revenue payments are staggered. The December figures reflect taxes collected in October, which vendors reported in November.

Retail activity has shown an increase, but the totals also show impacts of Eagle Ford Shale drilling more than 50 miles away are rippling into the city, interim Finance Director Constance Sanchez said.

“That would be the different companies that are needed for the Eagle Ford Shale and they’re buying equipment and things they need for that,” Sanchez said.

For the city’s fiscal year, which began Aug. 1, the city has collected 11.9 percent more revenue than what was collected during the same time in 2010 and 7.4 percent above what the city budgeted, Sanchez said.

While the city is happy with the positive difference, the windfall doesn’t mean officials can relax headed into the next budget season.

Property tax revenue increased at a much lesser rate than in previous years, Sanchez said. Preliminary property values will arrive in April.

Even with cuts, some city expenses have also increased such as utilities and contractual obligations, Sanchez said.

“We have to take all this into account,” Sanchez said. “It’s really too soon to say things are looking good because of the overall big picture.”

Eagle Ford’s effects are more pronounced in some of the cities at or near the heart of production.

George West in Live Oak County, for example, received a monthly allocation of more than $57,000, which is 56 percent higher than December 2010’s payment.

Through the December payment, George West is up 54 percent with more than $616,000, figures show.

Beeville‘s monthly allocation increased about 40 percent over December 2010, and the city is up 26 percent in collections with about $3.4 million.

Alice, away from the heart of drilling activity in Jim Wells County, continues to enjoy the retail and other side benefits of drilling as hotels are built and stores expand.

Alice’s allocations top $15.3 million, which is 44 percent higher than by the same time in 2010.

Statewide, the Comptroller‘s Office remitted $478.3 million to local governments in December — a year-to-year increase of 9.7 percent.

Source

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