PECOS ENTERPRISE
Daily Newspaper and Tourism Guide
for Trans Pecos, Big Bend, Far West Texas
Tourism|__|News|__|Sports|__|Opinion|__|Lifestyles|
Golden Years|__|Sports Scores|__|Subscribe Enterprise|
Advertising|__|Alpine Avalanche|__|Monahans News|__|E-Forum|__|Lotto
Links|__|Photos|__|Archives|__|Classified|__|ENTERPRISE HOME PAGE
LIVING OFF THE LAND
July 25, 1997
Good cantaloupe crop means
lots of work to get it to market
Skip to next story
By SHANNON BRYER
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 25, 1997 - Trophy International, headquartered in McAllen,
Texas, is having another great year harvesting melons.
"This year, it's the usual-lots of work. There's lots of packing being
done since we started harvesting in late June," said Mike Brand, Trophy
International division director.
"This year has been easier than last year. There have been more melons
coming faster, but we've also had fewer mechanical problems," Brand said.
When the melons are brought to the shed on 1701 Second St., several
workers unload them by rolling them down a wooden incline onto a
conveyor belt. The belt transports the melons through the hydrocooler.
"The hydrocooler bathes them in cool water. Taking the heat out of them
makes the cold room work better, and makes the melons last longer,"
explained Brand.
Then the melons are sorted by whether they are #1's or #2's. #1's are
sold to chain stores, and #2's are sold mostly at roadside stands. The
melons are then boxed. "Each element of the process is essential, but
the packers are crucial. They have to box the melons by size. We go
through 10,000 boxes a day, and 6 to 23 melons are in each box," Brand
said.
The packer chooses melons of the same size to go in one box and marks
their size, anywhere from 6 (the largest) to 27 (the smallest), on each
box. The packers put another number on each box that identifies them as
packer since they are paid by the box.
After the boxes are filled, a conveyor belt moves them to the area where
they are stacked onto palettes, which are transported by fork lift into
the 42-degree cold room. From there, refrigerated trucks take them to
supermarkets all over the country.
About three-fourths of Trophy International's melons go to chain stores
in Texas, and the rest go to the east coast, and are sold out of
McAllen. "Pecos cantaloupes start out at a good price and then go down
when California cantaloupes hit the market," Brand said.
Trophy, which started harvesting at the end of June, has been in Pecos
since the 1970's, and grows its own cantaloupes. Its 300 acres of fields are in Coyanosa.
Local cantaloupe growers
can't keep up with demand
Skip to next story
By SHANNON BRYER
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 25, 1997 - Both Pecos Cantaloupe Company, Inc., a local
company, and Sun-Up Produce, headquartered in Donna, Texas, sell most of
their melons to Texas chain stores.
"So far it seems like they've been going to Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston,
and San Antonio. We've only been able to supply the people here in Texas
so far," said Leslie Gilliam, who handles grower accounting for Sun-Up
in Pecos.
The local cantaloupe company, Pecos Cantaloupe Company, Inc., also sells
mostly in Texas. "We keep most of our melons in Texas. There's strong
demand in chain stores here, and they're taking all we can produce, but
as the season progresses we may go outside the state," said Trey Miller,
salesman for Pecos Cantaloupe Company, Inc.
So far, Sun-Up has packed a total of 42,000 cantaloupes. "It has run
anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 a day," Gilliam said. Also, sales have
been very good. "We can't keep up with all the demand," Gilliam said.
"It's going well so far. The crop is good. We've been harvesting since
June 30," said Gilliam.
"We've gotten off to a good start. Sales have been excellent. The
market's good right now," Miller said.
Three local growers, Dale Toone, W.C. Cunningham, and Roger Jones are
growing cantaloupe for the company which is in its first year in Pecos.
Together thy have 500 acres, harvesting about 580 cantaloupes per acre.
Pecos Cantaloupe Company, Inc. grows their own cantaloupes in fields
south of Pecos. Each acre yields anywhere from 25 to 700 boxes of melons.
58,000 acre-feet of unallocated
water rights claimed by Lea County
Skip to next story
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) July 25, 1997 - The Lea County Water Commission, which
successfully turned back efforts to ship ground water from the county to
the Pecos River Valley, has gone on the offensive against future water
transfers.
County officials said this week they will apply for about 58,000
acre-feet of unallocated water rights remaining in the county, requiring
the filing of hundreds of water permits with the state engineer's
office, which handles water rights matters in New Mexico.
An acre foot is the amount of water needed to cover 1 acre with 1 foot
of water.
"We'll basically apply for them and tie them up until we get a (water)
plan," said Lea County Commissioner Buster Goff, a water committee
member. "We want to tie those water rights up so those water rights
can't be taken out of the county."
The committee has called for a regional or county-wide water plan for
100 years to give the county ammunition against raids on its water.
Members of the Interstate Stream Commission told the committee earlier
this summer that such a plan was vital in guarding the county's
interests.
The county has set aside $25,000 for the water plan, which is expected
to cost at least $200,000. The water committee voted to ask communities
in the county to chip in.
"Each of the municipalities needs to be involved in it," Goff said.
The committee also agreed this week to form a Water Authority Board
consisting of the county and city governments in Lea County. The
committee also will work to get the area's oil and gas industry more
involved in county water issues, particularly since many of those
companies might already have smaller area water studies.
Committee members also want to pursue cooperative efforts between Lea,
Roosevelt and Curry counties to protect the Ogallala aquifer, which runs
along eastern New Mexico and through much of West Texas.
The committee also said it wants to meet with Texas lawmakers to discuss
cooperative efforts to protect the Ogallala. Texas has different drilling and pumping regulations from New Mexico.
Report says consumers willing to
pay more for safe drinking water
Skip to next story
PECOS, July 25, 1997 - A new report by USDA's Economic Research Service
has determined what consumers would be willing to pay for safer drinking
water. The report, "Benefits of Safer Drinking Water: The Value of
Nitrate Reduction," found that respondents to a survey conducted in four
regions of the United States, would pay from $45 to $60 per household
per month for a filter that reduced nitrates in drinking water to levels
considered safe.
The respondents also would be willing to pay from $45 to $70 per month
for a filter that would render their drinking water totally
nitrate-free.
Ground water is an important source of drinking water, especially in
rural areas. During the past 15 years, considerable public interest has
arisen about the quality of the nation's ground water resources. This is
especially true for agricultural chemical residuals, which may
potentially degrade ground water quality. Concerns about agricultural
sources of ground water contamination is driven by fears that exposure
to agricultural chemicals in drinking water may pose human health risks.
The objective was to use applied macroeconomic models to evaluate the
potential benefits of reducing or eliminating nitrates from drinking
water. The more than 800 persons surveyed in 1994 lived in four regions
the White River area of Indiana, Central Nebraska, the Lower Susquehanna
River Valley, and the Mid-Columbia Basin in Washington.
After being given a description of possible nitrate risks, and being
asked to assume that their water supply contained nitrates above levels
considered safe, respondents were asked if they would pay a randomly
selected dollar amount for a water toter to lower nitrates to safe
levels. Then they were asked if they would pay a higher dollar amount
for a filter that would eliminate all nitrates from their drinking water.
Potential benefits for the 2.9 million households in the four study
regions were estimated at $350 million, if households potentially at
risk were protected from excessive nitrates in the drinking water.
Discovery of nitrates and pesticides in ground water during the late
1970's and early 1980's dispelled the commonly held view that ground
water was protected from these chemicals by layers of rock, soil, and
clay. In 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released
results from a survey showing that, while at least half of the Nation's
drinking water wells contained detectable amounts of nitrate, only about
1.2 percent of community water systems and 2.4 percent of rural wells
contained nitrates at levels higher than EPA recommendations (10
mg/liter).
The Environmental Working Group estimates that two million people drank
water from systems that violated the EPA nitrate standard at least once
between 1986 and 1995. An additional estimated 3.8 million people drank
water from private wells with nitrate levels above the 10 mg/liter
standard.
The extent to which drinking water contamination from agricultural
chemicals poses a risk to human health is unclear. A well-documented
nitrate contamination concern is infant methemoglobinemia, in which
nitrates impair the ability of an infant's blood to carry oxygen.
Nitrates in water and foods (such as hot dogs) have also been suggested
as possible sources of cancer. However, the health risk of water
containing traces of nitrates at levels below those that possibly
endanger humans is poorly understood.
Source: Economic Research Service, Room 236, 1301 New York Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20005-4788.
Water may replace oil as most
precious resource in near future
Skip to next story
By Werner Fornos
Special to Pecos Enterprise
July 25, 1997 - Two-thirds of the world's population is expected to
suffer from water shortages within the next 30 years.
In the near future, water is likely to replace oil as the universally
recognized most precious resource - a distinction long evident in many
developing countries where disputes over water threaten to intensify and
even trigger armed conflicts.
Nearly one of every three inhabitants of the world's poorest regions
today lack access to safe and reliable water for their household needs,
turning in desperation to sources that are often contaminated with human
and animal waste. Unsurprisingly, about 80 percent of all illnesses in
the developing world are water-borne.
Agricultural water use has expanded fivefold during this century, a
result of world population soaring from 1.6 billion to nearly 5.9
billion as well as widespread use of fertilizers, pesticides,
high-yielding seeds and irrigation over the past 50 years. Several poor
countries experiencing both rapid demographic growth and diminishing
water supplies are unable to grow enough food to provide their
inhabitants with the minimum daily nutrition requirements.
Where agricultural water supplies drop under minimal levels (1,700 cubic
meters per person), food self-sufficiency is virtually impossible. There
are 28 such water-stressed countries in Africa and the Middle East; 19
of them import at least 20 percent of their grain.
While 380 million people currently live in water-stressed countries in
Africa and the Middle East alone, there may be as many as 1.3 billion by
the year 2025. In addition, by then India is projected to be
water-stressed and China may be on the brink. Within lass than 30 years,
the combined population of counties in all regions where water supplies
preclude food self-sufficiency could reach 3.6 billion.
Compounding the scarcity problem is the fact that water disputes
frequently cross national borders. The Middle East, with its heavy
Reliance on irrigation for agricultural productivity as well as some of
the highest fertility rates in the world, is the region with far and
away the most ominous potential for water issues to erupt into violence.
The Jordan River basin is shared by Israel, Jordan and the West Bank. As
an anticipated one million Soviet emigrants pour into Israel, the
country's water use already exceeds its renewable supply by 15 percent.
Jordan, where population increases by 3.4 percent a year, is approaching
its supply limits and its water demand is expected to rise by 40 percent
in this decade.
According to Joyce R. Starr, who chaired the Global Water summit
Initiative, Both Jordan's King Hussein and former Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat each said that water was the only issue that could bring
their countries to fight a war against Israel.
The Nile, the world's longest river, supplies nine countries, including
Egypt, whose population depends almost exclusively on its waters - none
of which originates within that nation's boundaries. Turkey controls the
fate of two major rivers that originate in its eastern mountains: the
Tigris, flowing directly through Iraq toward the Persian Gulf, and the
Euphrates, running through Syria as well as Iraq before reaching the
Gulf. Both Iraq and Syria are deeply concerned that Turkey's Southeast
Anatolia Project could render them water-stressed. The Anatolia water
development undertaking, designed to substantially bolster Turkey's
hydro-electrical power capacity as well as widely increase its irrigated
cropland, involves the construction of 22 dams, 19 hydroelectric plants
and 25 irrigation systems.
With about a fifth of the current world population already lacking safe
drinking water, food for a nutritious diet and sufficient material
goods, and world population projected to reach at least 8 billion before
it levels off, it is clear that the policies and technologies to ensure
the most efficient use of this finite resource demand a high global
priority.
But, vital though they maybe, policies and technologies are only part of
the formula for global water security and alone "cannot avert conflicts
and shortages where populations are expanding faster than efficiency
measures can release new supplies," according to Sandra Postel, director
of the Global Water Policy Project.
Indeed, water security in the next millennium for most Middle Eastern
countries, as well as many water-stressed countries of Africa, depends
as much on reducing fertility rates by providing voluntary family
planning programs, as it does on modern irrigations systems.
(Werner Fornos is president of the Population Institute, a Washington
D.C. based non-profit organization seeking a more equitable balance
between the world's population, environment and resources.)
Source: The Population Institute, 107 Second Street, NE, Washington DC 20002.
Texas to Mexico exports expected to increase
Skip to next story
AUSTIN, July 25, 1997 - The Texas Department of Agriculture is
presenting a series of informal meetings on Texas-Mexico agricultural
trade July 21-23 in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth. These
meetings feature Norval Francis, agricultural minister-counselor at the
U. S. Embassy in Mexico City.
Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry said Francis will highlight the
political and economic situation in Mexico. He will also address
questions on the North American Free Trade Agreement and other issues
related to agricultural trade.
"With the Mexican economy improving, there is great potential for
increased growth in Texas exports to Mexico," Perry said.
Perry said three meetings are planned to reach as many interested
parties as possible. The meetings are scheduled for 2 p.m. July 21 at
the Greater Houston Partnership, 1200 Smith St., Houston; 1:30 p.m. July
22 at the International Small Business Development Center, Cypress Tower
Building, 1222 N. Main, San Antonio; and 1:30 p.m. July 23 at the
Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Center, 2050 Stemmons.
Participants will include representatives of agribusinesses and
commodity groups, bankers, farmers, ranchers and city and community
leaders. Anyone interested in agricultural trade with Mexico is invited.
There is no fee for attending.
Co-sponsors are the Greater Houston Partnership, International Small
Business Development Center-University of Texas San Antonio and the
Greater Dallas Chamber.
Mexico is Texas's largest trading partner. In 1996, overall trade
between Texas and Mexico totaled $27 billion, including $2 billion in agricultural exports.
Texas highways bear brunt of Mexican trucks
Skip to next story
By DAN MORALES
Texas Attorney General
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created a wealth of new
economic opportunity for both the United States and Mexico, and for
Texas in particular. Total U.S.-Mexico trade is up from $27 billion in
1989 to $130 billion in 1996. Eighty percent of all overland
U.S.-Mexican trade moves through Texas, and most of it is transported by
trucks.
Along with this opportunity comes a responsibility for Texas government
to ensure that our state's laws, as well as its health, safety, and
environmental standards, are upheld. As Attorney General for the State
of Texas, I am determined to see that the promises of NAFTA do not
become a burden on Texas taxpayers or a strain on our roads, our
environment, or our quality of life.
Concerns about increased truck traffic
There are a number of reasons to be concerned about increased Mexican
truck traffic on Texas highways. For one thing, the Texas-Mexico border
has become a high intensity drug trafficking area. Mexico is a major
transit route for cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and marijuana
entering the United States. It has also become one of the most
significant money laundering centers in the hemisphere.
In addition, many Mexican trucks operate under safety standards that are
considerably less stringent than our own standards for vehicle
maintenance, insurance and driver training. It is estimated that fewer
than five percent of the approximately 6,000-8,000 Mexican trucks that
cross into Texas each day meet U.S. standards - and more than one-fourth
of these trucks carry corrosives, chemicals, explosives, jet fuel,
poisons, toxic waste and pesticides.
Other concerns involve the accelerated deterioration of Texas highways.
Domestic trucks are required to weigh no more than 80,000 pounds,
whereas many Mexican trucks top the scales at more than twice the limit.
Enforcement efforts at this time are nowhere near being adequate. The
reality is that there are simply too many trucks crossing the border and
too few inspectors.
Texas gets a reprieve
The trade agreement provided for expanded commercial truck traffic
between Mexico and the United States. In the past, trucks from across
the border have been confined to commercial zones (designated areas
several miles deep) along the border. Under NAFTA, starting in December,
1995, Mexican trucks were slated to begin traveling freely throughout
Texas and the other border states.
In the fall of 1995, we at the Office of the Attorney General prepared a
report on the potential impact of expanded truck traffic in Texas and
presented the report to President Clinton. The report stressed the need
for more state inspectors and inspection stations as well as improved
controls against drug smuggling and the transportation of hazardous
materials.
On December 18, 1995, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation announced
that Mexican trucks would continue to have access only to commercial
zones. This delay of access, which is still in effect, bought time for
Texas and U.S. authorities to develop strategies to ensure the safety
and protection of our citizens.
What must be done
At present, we are working closely with the federal government to
establish adequate inspections for trucks entering the U.S. from Mexico.
We are fighting for vigorous and effective safeguards to enhance the
economic promise of the trade agreement.
Texas stands to benefit greatly from expanded trade with Mexico, and we
are committed to developing effective policies to allow the full
realization of these benefits. But we must control our border and keep
our roads safe to ensure the safety of our citizens. Americans demand it
and expect it, and we can do it.
Texas cities form partnerships
with sister cities abroad
Skip to next story
AUSTIN, July 25, 1997 - Texas cities are expected to forge additional
ties with partners abroad during the years ahead, hoping to take
advantage of emerging markets throughout the world, according to the
Texas State Comptroller.
"From business deals to tourism, these city-to-city partnerships will
pay increasing dividends," John Sharp said. "As global opportunities
continue to open up, relations between recent rivals will thaw, and
longtime friends will make their ties even stronger by coordinating
economic development, education, and cultural exchange efforts."
Writing in the latest issue of Fiscal Notes, the Comptroller's award
winning monthly publication, Sharp said some 50 Texas cities have
agreements with about 100 foreign locales through sister cities
programs, which link U.S. municipalities with communities abroad.
Sharp said most sister city partnerships are funded by grants, private
foundations, corporate donations, and membership fees.
Fort Worth has one of the most active programs in Texas, Sharp said,
with links to Trier, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Bandung, Indonesia;
Reggio Emilia, Italy; and Nagaoka, Japan.
"These partnerships have brought Fort Worth $2 million a year in
additional revenues from tourism and related industries," Sharp said.
The Comptroller said that Austin's association with the city of Koblenz,
Germany, has generated more than $700,000 in local revenue during the
past few years, and includes activities ranging from a visit last year
by a 20-member business delegation led by Koblenz' mayor to work-study
apprenticeships for Austin youth sponsored by the German government and
local Koblenz employers.
In addition, sister city groups in Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San
Antonio last year sponsored a 100-day celebration of Japanese culture,
one of the largest such festivals ever held in the United States.
Sharp said that of the 50 sister city partnerships Texas cities share
with foreign partners, 19 are in Mexico, 14 in Japan, and 11 in Germany.
Houston leads all Texas cities with 13 different associations, ranging
from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Stavanger, Norway.
Austin maintains sister city programs with seven partners abroad,
including Adelaide, Australia, Saltillo, Mexico, and Maseru, Lesotho.
San Antonio also boasts seven sister city partners, from Guadalajara and
Monterrey, Mexico, to two separate cities in the Canary Islands, Las
Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Fort Worth and Corpus Christi each have links to five cities abroad,
while Bryan-College Station, Galveston, Irving, McAllen, and Tyler each
enjoy associations with three foreign partners.
Sharp noted that New Braunfels' sister city is, logically enough,
Braunfels, Germany, while Rockport has paired itself with Beachport,
Australia, Weimar ha the German city of the same name, and El Paso with
Ciudad Juarez, just across the border.
"Texans have always taken great pride in the hospitality of our
hometowns," Sharp said. "As the world continues to shrink, it makes
sense for cities across the state to explore the possibility of
developing economic and cultural ties with partners across the globe."
Fiscal Notes is published monthly by the Comptroller's Research
Division. It is available by writing Sharp at Post Office Box 13528,
Austin, Texas 7871 1-3528, or by calling tail-free at 1-800-531-5441,
extension 3-4900.
Sharp's Window on State Government at www.window.cpa. shte.tx.us also
features Fiscal Notes and a wide range of other comptroller
publications, demographic data, and economic forecasts.
Self-help projects are big step
toward healthier communities
Skip to next story
PECOS, July 25, 1997 - For nearly 20 years the people of Pueblo Nuevo
have lived with the blackwater - cesspools of failing septic systems
that turn their neighborhood streets, green lawns and colorful rose
gardens into open sewers. They have talked about and listened to and
hoped for plans that would bring them an up-to-date sewer system.
The dream remained on the shelf until the day that Kassie Sutton of
Texas Department of Health (TDH) visited this community at the edge of
Eagle Pass to talk with a group of women about diabetes and healthy
eating. When the suggestion came up to grow fresh vegetables, the
discussion stopped. Not with the cesspools, the group agreed.
That's when the 1,165 residents of the Maverick County community on the
Texas-Mexico border began to learn from Sutton about Texas STEP. This
Small Towns Environment Program helps communities meet vital water and
wastewater needs through their own do-it yourself initiative, money and
labor.
The STEP initiative, a national program that began in Texas about three
years ago, starts when community residents decide they have an urgent
water or wastewater problem that no one else is solving. Next they
decide as a group how much they can afford to pay toward solving their
problem. With these decisions made, the residents get an engineering
bid, then begin chopping back the cost while adding up the community's
manpower and resources. Along the way local leaders, called sparkplugs,
emerge to guide and push the project toward completion.
Texas STEP is a collaboration on every level-national groups, state
agencies, local partnerships. Currently, agencies including TDH, Texas
Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Texas Water Development Board,
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and Texas General Land
Office are working on projects in 14 communities across the state.
Educational and financial support comes from The Rensselaerville
Institute (TRI), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and Ford Foundation.
Created by TRI in New York 20 years ago, the national Small Towns
Environment Program counts, along with Texas, Arkansas, Idaho, Maryland,
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee
and Washington as partners in the program.
"STEP enhances our efforts to reduce environmental and community health
hazards along the border by enabling colonia residents to meet their
water and wastewater needs through self-help," said Sofia Hernandez,
policy analyst in the Office of Border Health and the border-wide
coordinator for TDH's involvement in STEP.
Sutton, program director of TDH's Office of Border Health in Public
Health Region 8 in Uvalde, has been amazed at the accomplishments of the
Maverick County project after a slow start. "It took about a year of
meetings for the ideas of self-help to be accepted," she said. "It's
what I call the Snap, Crackle, Pop theory. You see a few lightblubs go
on at each meeting. With the self-help concept, you see an attitude
shift."
And she finds that all the concerns about the project have been
addressed. "I didn't really believe it could happen until I smelled the
diesel and saw the dirt being moved," Sutton said.
Eventually, more than 260 households formed the Pueblo Nuevo Water
Supply Corp. with the project goal of installing about 26,000 linear
feet of sewer collection line and 80 manholes. Each participating
household agreed to pay a $200 membership fee into the nonprofit
corporation and $20 a month for five years-half for debt retirement and
the other half to use the system. TRI loaned the group the initial funds
to get started.
Various residents form the crew each day on the project site. Few are
professional construction workers. Just one person is paid, construction
foreman Martin Compean. All other workers are volunteers including the
three sparkplugs in Pueblo Nuevo: Head Start teacher Norma Garza;
Fernando Munoz, who works in health and human services for the county;
and resident Juanita Rodriguez. Sutton serves as project director, with
TDH as lead agency in coordination with Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission. The City of Eagle Pass and El Indio Water
Supply Corp. also participate as partners. Other projects around the
state have different project directors and lead agencies.
More than 3,000 feet of pipes have been laid since construction started
in December 1996. Full retail cost of the project including tap-in fees
was estimated at $1.6 million. Community contributions of labor,
equipment and supplies plus a grant total $364,713. Through their labor
and initiatives, residents will save more than $1.3 million or about 78
percent of the retail price tag.
"STEP is basic public health at work," said Dr. Ronald (RJ) Dutton,
coordinator of TDH's Office of Border Health. "Good quality drinking
water and adequate treatment of wastewater are the cornerstones of
public health and are directly linked to reducing the spread of
infectious disease."
In the next few years in Pueblo Nuevo, there will be no more open
cesspools. Sewer lines will be hooked up. Eagle Pass will take over as
owner of the system. The now dusty streets may be paved when all the
pipe is laid, and Sutton hopes residents will have fewer respiratory
problems as a result.
The less tangible results also are beginning to show around the edges.
"People already are talking about other projects such as parks," Sutton
said. "There is a real sense of ownership by the community."
(For more information contact Sofia Hernandez, Office of Border Health,
at 512-458-7675, or Emily Palmer, Communications Division, at
512-458-7400.)
Texas monthly oil and gas statistics
mostly down compared to last year
Return to top
AUSTIN, July 25, 1997 - The Texas Railroad Commission issued 1,201
original drilling permits in June compared to 982 in June 1996. The 1997
June total included 919 permits to drill new oil and gas wells, 48 to
re-enter existing well bores and 234 for re-completions.
So far in 1997, there have been 6,984 drilling permits issued compared
to 6,067 recorded during the same period in 1996.
Permits issued in June included 475 oil, 281 gas, 402 oil and gas, 34
injection, and eight other permits.
June oil and gas completions
In June operators reported 373 oil, 370 gas, 27 injection and two other
completions, compared to 345 oil, 380 gas, and 53 injection and other
completions during the same month of last year.
Total well completions for 1997 year-to-date is 4,633 up from 4,387
recorded during the same period in 1996.
Operators reported 533 holes plugged and 115 dry holes in June compared
to 846 holes plugged and 106 dry holes during the same period last year.
April crude oil production
Texas preliminary April crude oil production averaged 1,298,380 barrels
daily, down from the 1,357,650 barrels daily average of April 1996.
The preliminary Texas crude oil production figure for April 1997 is
38,951,160 barrels, a decrease from the 40,727,627 barrels reported
during April 1996.
April natural gas production
Texas oil and gas wells produced 452,221,838 Mcf (thousand cubic feet)
of gas based upon preliminary production figures for April 1997, down
from the April 1996 preliminary gas production total of 457,699,555 Mcf.
Texas gas production in April came from 164,029 oil, and 49,670 gas
wells.
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail: news@bitstreet.com
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
We support Newspapers in Education
Return to Top
Return to Home Page