Slice up and analyze these 50 states any way you care and Texas looms right up there in multiple economic, demographic, geographic and political categories. But probably in no sector does it stand out more than in energy. The Lone Star state ranks first in U.S. crude oil, natural gas and NGL production by wide margins.
And it’s not just because Texas is so geographically big that you could drop, say, 7.5 Indianas within its borders—fortuitous geology blesses the state. Thank not the recent unconventional shale boom; it has been that way for a while. Spindletop, outside Beaumont, in 1901 introduced the world to the oil business as we know it today. The Santa Rita No. 1, staked 500 miles to the west, ushered in one of the biggest plays anywhere, the Permian, 22 years later.
Where does all that production go? The state’s second-to-none midstream sector moves it to market.
A lot of Texas’ production—plus oil, gas and gas liquids from other states and nations—ends up at the world’s largest collection of tank farms, storage caverns, docks, fractionators, refineries and petrochemical plants that arc around the Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi to Port Arthur. Off the Texas beach lie still more oil and gas fields, although in this subset Louisiana would take the blue ribbon. The days may be gone when the Texas Railroad Commission effectively set the world’s oil price. But Texas still looms large, very large, in the energy business for the U.S. and the world.
On that imposing backdrop, it is my pleasure to tell you of Hart Energy’s first Midstream Texas conference, set for Oct. 25 to 27 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. The midstream tracks at our DUG conferences have proved very popular, as has our annual Marcellus-Utica Midstream conference in Pittsburgh. But each of those events focused primarily on a single region and the local midstream assets that serve it.
The new Midstream Texas conference will be different because Texas is different. Midstream faces challenges across a big state and from a big world. Far outside Texas, production from Canada’s oil sands to Marcellus NGL find their ways to Texas. And don’t forget all that imported Mayan, Brent and Bonny Light that still lands at Texas seaports to feed Texas refineries. Or, how about the products that leave Texas for sale abroad, or the natural gas that will soon be liquefied at Texas ports?
It’s a big story, and I believe this will be a big conference.
We’re busy now firming up an impressive program of senior executives, financial analysts and industry observers who will headline this must-attend event. The conference will be concurrent with—but separate from— Hart Energy’s very popular DUG Eagle Ford showcase.
If you have an interest in North America’s midstream, San Antonio will be the place to be this fall. I hope you will join us there. I believe Midstream Texas will be well worth your while.
Midstream again proved a lively topic at the recent DUG East conference in Pittsburgh. The robust Marcellus and Utica plays continue to challenge the industry.
I heard several nice comments there about the profile of geologist Terry Engelder in our June issue. He was among the pioneers, with Range Resources and others, that pioneered the Marcellus, which in a few short years has emerged as one of the world’s major gas and NGL plays.
These remain exciting—and promising—times for midstream despite the commodity price slump. Thanks for taking us along while you enjoy the ride.
I believe midstream’s future is bright in Texas and all of North America.

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