Denton frack ban vote is 'vitally important' Faulkner says

The oil and gas industry should do a lot more to combat the perception in Denton before the vote to ban fracking on Nov. 4, Chris Faulkner, CEO of Breitling Energy, said.

Dallas-based Breitling (OTC: BECC) doesn’t have operations in Denton but he’s concerned that the repercussions from the ban could spread beyond North Texas.

“It’s vitally important and I’ll tell you, I think the industry has had a lack of effort in order to deal with that,” said Faulkner, the unofficial spokesman of fracking. “Denton, Texas, only has 275 gas wells. In the grand scheme of things, it does not matter. But it does matter perception wise, if fracking is banned in a city in Texas, … it’s right in the middle of the Metroplex. The headline won’t read about Denton, it’s going to read 'Fracking banned in a city in Texas' and that’s going to give a huge perception issue around the world not just here in the United States.”

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He blames this on one operator who drilled wells in extremely close proximity to homes in south Denton. Eagle Ridge Operating, based in Dallas, drilled wells into the Barnett Shale using sites that were old oil wells drilled long before the neighborhoods were built.

The city’s setback ordinance, which requires wells be drilled 1,200 feet from homes, was powerless to stop Eagle Ridge.

“We’re only as good as our worst competitor, or the worst operator out there and the mistakes he makes bleeds over into folks who are doing it right,” Faulkner said. “The vast majority of oil and gas companies are doing it right. There’s a great example in Denton of one company up there, which has made mistakes, not to name that company, but they’re the ones who caused all of these issues by doing things incorrectly.

Nicholas covers the energy, manufacturing, aviation and transportation beats for the Dallas Business Journal. Subscribe the Energy Inc. newsletter