The Eagle Ford Shale is soaring to new heights as evidenced by second-quarter conference calls from E&P companies working the play. Their good news is reinforced by upbeat production forecasts from the government and consulting firms. Some 155 rigs are working there; 113 are drilling for oil. But Eagle Ford potential does not stop at the Rio Grande--and now, access to the opportunity set will not stop there either.

At press time, Mexico finally delivered historic changes to its hydrocarbon laws (oil, gas, electricity) and the government was soon to declare which blocks will be open for bid by foreign and private companies, versus those to be retained by Pemex. Some 21 new or amended laws that had been passed by the Mexican Congress were signed into law by President Enrique Peña Nieto on August 11.

What about the American Eagle Ford? First, here’s some context: From second-quarter 2013 to second-quarter 2014, the U.S. horizontal well count increased from about 4,700 such wells drilled in a quarter, to 5,200, according to a report from RBC Capital Markets.

In terms of raw horizontal well count, the Eagle Ford is the winner, RBC said. In second-quarter 2013, operators drilled 1,056 horizontals into the Eagle Ford (the Bakken ranked second at 684 such wells). In second-quarter 2014, the Eagle Ford won again, marked by another 1,088 horizontal wells drilled. (The new second place winner was the Permian, where operators drilled 864 horizontal wells.)

Meanwhile, exploration and production (E&P) conference calls shed more light on the booming Eagle Ford Stateside. It’s all good. Anadarko will drill 400 wells there this year and EOG Resources, 520. BHP Billiton is running 17 rigs there.

EOG, the largest acreage holder in the play, added 1,600 net drilling locations to its Eagle Ford menu in the second quarter. More important, it revised upward its estimated potential reserves in this play by 45% to a whopping 3.2 Bboe, net. This is the company’s third Eagle Ford reserves increase in four years.

The Energy Information Administration said production in the Eagle Ford would reach 1.45 million barrels per day (MMbbl/d) and 6.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in August. Wood-Mackenzie now predicts the play’s crude and condensate output will be 2 MMbbl/d by 2020,but as consultant Bentek has said before, production forecasts in shale plays usually turn out to be understated, sometimes dramatically so.

Mexico can look longingly at these kinds of forecasts, but now it has a chance to get in on the action with help from foreign partners. Much remains to be done, however. New bills and regulations for implementing its reforms were to be introduced by the end of September. By the end of October, the government was to publish administrative regulations applicable to the regulatory phase. In addition, Mexico plans to create a new gas pipeline and storage system operator, a trust to promote development of domestic suppliers to the industry, and a program to train more Mexicans for oil and gas jobs.

Terms for the country’s first bidding round are supposed to be released in first-quarter 2015.

Not since Venezuela’s La Apertura Petrolera (the petroleum opening) in the late 1990s has such a momentous opportunity appeared for explorers interested in oil and gas south of the border. But about 10 years ago, Mexico tried to attract foreign investment only to receive a lukewarm response. It remains to be seen what happens this time around, although today’s reforms are more far-reaching.

“Implementing these energy reforms is likely to face similar pitfalls as previous structural reforms in Mexico, namely, rushing to accomplish high visibility changes for political expediency, while neglecting important details,” said Dwight Dyer, in an email response to my questions. Based in Mexico City, Dyer is Americas senior analyst for global consultancy Control Risks.

“In this case, the looming July 2015 midterm elections are the deadline for the Peña Nieto administration to show some substantive accomplishments to boast about. Peña Nieto’s surprise announcement that the results of Pemex’s zero round bid will be made public August 13, a whole month before the deadline, sounds like an attempt to showcase the administration’s efficiency,” he wrote.

“However, if the newly approved regulations had been respected, it would have fallen to the oil industry regulatory agency, the National Hydrocarbons Commission, to make the call. If Peña Nieto is so adamant about getting out the good news, he should let the relevant actors take center stage, which would help bring order to opening of Mexico's energy market.”

For making and solidifying personal contacts and gleaning executive insights, please join us again at Hart Energy’s DUG Eagle Ford Conference in San Antonio on Sept. 16 and 17, where we will hear from a speaker about Mexico’s Eagle Ford potential.

And, mark your calendars for our newest event, the Offshore Executive Conference in Houston on Oct. 16. Despite so much focus on shale plays, we cannot neglect the important trends offshore that contribute to U.S. production.

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