Local Company Benefits From Oil Boom

Local Company Benefits From Oil Boom
By Aaryn Valenzuela

The increase in oil production just west of San Angelo is creating new business, and more opportunities for existing companies, like long-time San Angelo-based Contractor Reece-Albert. At the Turner Pit Rock Quarry, off of Burma Rd, workers use 30 thousand pounds of explosives to break up limestone.

"It breaks up material in these walls that we can take to our crusher via trucks, and crush down into smaller products that we then in turn sell to the public," says Roger Albert, President of CSA Materials.

They crush about three to four thousand tons of rock a day. They work with the city, TXDOT, and Tom Green County, but about 50 percent of their business comes from oil field companies.

"The oildfield is a large portion of our customer base in the Midland-Odessa area right now. Due to the heavy traffic of the oil field, the roads are falling apart, but they also have to build the roads to the location, that build the pads for the location, and this material gives them a surface thats more or less weather proof," says Albert.

Roger Albert is the President of CSA materials. He says they opened the Turner Pit about 12 years ago after reserves started to dwindle along Wilke Mountain, just West of San Angelo.

His father started the business more than 70 years ago.

"I've got two brothers in the business, we all started in the late 60s, early 70s."

He says while the Oilfield Industry is bringing them more business, its also harder to keep workers.

"Right now, and in the last two years, especially the oil field has affected our ability to keep employees and to find employees, especially qualified employees. We just cant compete with the wages paid."

Reece-Albert currently has about 25 ongoing projects including the Concho River Project, and construction at Goodfellow Air Force Base.