Record Crowd Attends DUG™ Eagle Ford Conference

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Oct 14, 2011, 10:42 ET

HOUSTON, Oct. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 4,000 oil and gas industry professionals, investors and service company personnel attended Hart Energy's second annual DUG Eagle Ford conference and exhibition this week in San Antonio, Texas. The record turnout firmly established DUG (Developing Unconventional Gas) Eagle Ford as the world's largest unconventional resources conference.

The final tally shows 3,929 persons (total attendance) gathered October 10-12 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. Roughly 2,500 persons attended the inaugural DUG Eagle Ford event last year, but conference organizers were pleasantly surprised by this week's robust attendance.

"Early on, we expected more than 3,000 delegates to attend," said Barry Haest, Hart Energy's director of events, "but as the conference approached, our registrations kept climbing. Everyone in the oil and gas industry is excited about how much economic potential the Eagle Ford shale holds."

Production in the Eagle Ford has already reached 90,000 barrels per day and is spurring demand for more pipeline infrastructure, evidenced by the nearly 250 persons who attended the midstream workshop associated with Hart Energy's DUG Eagle Ford conference. Drilling permits across the region increased from just 33 in 2008 to more than 1,000 last year – and more than 1,200 (twelve hundred) were issued by June of this year.

"The success of DUG Eagle Ford validates Hart Energy's role in providing information about emerging unconventional resource plays," said Rich Eichler, the Company's chief executive officer. "No other organization offers as much news, data and analysis about these plays – or the audience which follows." During 2011, more than 12,000 investors, analysts and executives from oil and gas producers, midstream operators and service companies will attend Hart Energy's unconventional resource events.

For more than 30 years, Hart Energy has been the leader in covering energy news and technology for investors and energy industry executives. The Houston-based Company provides subscriber-only online information services (OilandGasInvestor.com, A-Dcenter.com, UGcenter.com, MidstreamBusiness.com), publishes industry magazines (Oil and Gas Investor, E&P, Midstream Business, FUEL), and produces high-level conferences and energy newsletters, notably the DUG™ (Developing Unconventional Gas) and DUO™ conferences, among others. Its research arm published the first Global Shale Gas Study in February and its Global Shale Oil Study will be published this fall.