The exploration and drilling boom in South Texas' Eagle Ford shale play has drawn hundreds of workers to the region, crowding the existing hotels and housing beyond capacity. To meet housing needs, oil service companies that including Halliburton, Weatherford and Schlumberger invited Houston-based Remote Logistics International to set up the Three Rivers Lodge, a lodging camp for oil service workers in Three Rivers, Texas, approximately 70 miles south of San Antonio.My home, by the way, is in San Antonio, Texas. I grew up in Williston, heart of the Bakken, and I retire in San Antonio. What are the odds?
Oil companies and state legislature need to take note of this story. Eagle Ford competing for Bakken oil workers may be the only thing that could shut down the Bakken, or at least slow it down significantly. I over hear a lot of blue collar workers talking when I visit the Bakken (where I am now, for an extended period) and it doesn't take a genius to figure out where these guys would like to spend their winters. On top of that, many of them have families in Florida, Louisiana, and Houston, and the Eagle Ford is a lot closer to those than to North Dakota.
The facility offers 192 beds and 48 rooms. The lodge is made up of trailers 28 feet wide by 60 feet long, but the kitchen and rec room are each doubled up to make one 56 foot by 60 foot trailer. There are two dedicated to the kitchen and dining room, two for the reception, rec room, movie room and business center/conference room, six for crew quarters and bathroom/shower, and one for the camp boss and medic's office. A company spokesperson said the lodge is already almost entirely booked and additional buildings will need to be ordered to keep up vacancy given the enormous demand.
While Three Rivers was built with oil service workers in mind, the occasional traveler in the area would be welcome and receive the same treatment. In fact, some rooms are being set aside to accommodate hunters for the upcoming deer season. Three Rivers Lodge also will serve as a flagship facility for Remote Logistics training, said Gibbins, with all workers hired by the company will undergo training at the lodge before heading to assignments overseas.
Palomar Modular Buildings is a direct manufacturer that can turnkey an oilfield man camp on a prepared site in a matter of weeks.
ReplyDeleteAs a commercial builder of prefabricated modular buildings, Palomar has experience constructing dormitories, laundry facilities, recreation halls, commercial kitchens, dining facilities and much more. These complexes can vary from smaller 20-50 person man camps to 500-1,000 person man camps. Palomar has experience working with oil field producers to customize facilities to meet their needs.