The oil field is a shrinking pond thanks to record low commodity prices, but competition and technology have driven down costs for recycling waste from the drilling pad.
DeWitt Recyclable Products in Cuero held a grand opening in April but will begin receiving drilling muds and other waste products from its first clients this week.
Using new and customized technology, owners say the costs of recycling oil and gas waste have now fallen to the point where they are very competitive with landfills.
“When you think of recycling, you think of paying a premium but that’s not our business model,” company co-founder David Elks told the Business Journal. “We don’t charge more.”
Mud farms and other oil waste companies typically charge by the cubic yard to dispose of oil and gas waste, but DeWitt uses state-certified scales to charge their clients by the ton.
Once the waste is processed, three products can be made: crude oil, diesel fuel and clean dirt. Elks said the company makes money receiving the waste from companies and selling the recycled products to third parties. Additional revenue can be generated from washing tanker trucks as well as cleaning and storing frack tanks. “We’re going to hire about 40 people once we’re fully up and running,” Elks said.
Located off Highway 183 just north of Cuero city limits, the land for the facility was carefully selected to be near one of the last remaining hotspots in the Eagle Ford. Railroad Commission of Texas figures show that DeWitt County is the second most prolific oil-producing county in the entire state. A review of drilling permits shows that big oil companies such as EOG Resources, BHP Billiton, Burlington Resources, Pioneer Natural Resources and Devon Energy all operate within the county. “There are 15 rigs operating within 25 miles of us,” Elks noted.
With decades of experience building processing plants, Elks served as his own general contractor to build the multi-million dollar facility while the company’s other co-founder James McCabe put together the private financing.
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