Texas oil boom led by shale

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AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Production from the Eagle Ford shale play in Texas increased more than 60 percent in December when compared to last year, drillers said.

The Texas Railroad Commission, the state energy regulator, reported that more than 358,000 barrels per day came from the Eagle Ford Play in December. That production increased 68 percent updated drilling figures indicate, reports Bloomberg News.

The U.S. Energy Department in October reported that shale developments in Texas helped pushed daily oil production to more than 2.1 million barrels for the first time in 25 years.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and EOG Resources Inc. are some of the largest leaseholders in the Eagle Ford play with a combined 1.13 million acres, Bloomberg reports.

In December, consulting group Wood Mackenzie said there's "excitement" growing around the Eagle Ford shale play. Callan McMahon, an upstream research analyst for the consultant, said capital investment there could top the $116 billion expected for Kazakhstan's Kashagan field,, one of the largest oil fields in the world.

Last year, Marathon Oil and Andarko Petroleum said they planned to invest heavily in Eagle Ford. Marathon said it expected to produce as much as 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the play in 2013.