Letter from President Spaniolo

August 4, 2008

To the University Community:

The University of Texas at Arlington is committed to keeping you informed on issues of interest to our community.  In that regard, I'm writing to update you on upcoming activity at the natural gas site on our campus.

As you recall, the drilling at the site, located at the southeast corner of campus, was completed in May.  A total of six wells were drilled on one pad site during that phase.  Beginning the week of Monday, August 11, our partners at Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. will resume operations at the site and begin the well completion phase.  This includes a process known as fracturing, or “fracing,” which involves the pumping of a mixture of water and sand at high pressure into the wells to stimulate the gas flow to the surface.  Fracing is a safe and customary practice for wells of this type. Carrizo estimates that this process will take 30 to 45 business days, with completion anticipated in mid-to-late September.

There will be noticeable daytime activity associated with the fracing process, and the University is working with Carrizo to ensure minimal impact on the community.  For instance, in an effort to conserve water used during fracing, much of the water used during this process will be collected and removed by trucks to a reclamation facility.  Necessarily, this will temporarily increase traffic around the site.  To minimize disruption, Carrizo will follow only surface road routes approved by the City of Arlington for this specific purpose and will not take other routes through the neighborhoods surrounding campus. 

For your reference and convenience, Carrizo has provided a detailed schedule and description of activities (pdf).  Please understand this is a projected schedule that Carrizo will work diligently to maintain.  However, it is possible minor schedule changes may occur.  UT Arlington and Carrizo will strive to make this process as quick, efficient, and unobtrusive as possible.

Once the well completion phase is concluded and gas is flowing, the production and transportation phase begins. Pipelines, known as “gathering pipelines,” will transport any gas from our site to market and are typically constructed specifically for that purpose.  With the wells located on our campus, Carrizo has developed an innovative plan, unique to Tarrant County and already approved by the Arlington City Council, to utilize a pipeline located primarily within existing utility routes that already contain similar equipment and infrastructure.  This will significantly reduce the need to construct pipelines on private property and will make the process of getting the gas from well to market much more efficient. 

As our natural gas program progresses, I will continue to communicate with you.  In the meantime, our web site will always include the latest news and information: www.uta.edu/naturalgas.  And of course, you’re welcome to contact me directly anytime at jds@uta.edu.

Thank you for your ongoing support for this important project.

Sincerely,

James D. Spaniolo
President
The University of Texas at Arlington