The Eagle Ford may not be getting the attention that several other plays are, in particular, the Permian and Marcellus. However even in the current downturn, it is still attracting both producers and midstream operators.

“The Delaware Basin is the flavor of the day, but the Eagle Ford is maintaining activity,” Peter Bowden, managing director and global head of midstream investment banking, Jefferies, said during a panel discussion at Hart Energy’s Midstream Texas conference.

The play’s rig count is down 60%, but because per well production has increased at such a great pace, there is no longer a perfect correlation between declining rig count and decline volumes of production. Bowden noted that despite the entire North American rig count being down by 50% from last year, volumes are flat to slightly higher.

“That all comes down to drilling technology, frack techniques, completions and lower breakeven points in all of these [unconventional] plays,” he said. “The shift to horizontal drilling is almost nearly complete with the only vertical drilling coming from smaller producers or those trying to hold production at a lower cost.”

Consequently, it may seem rough at first to look at rig counts in the Eagle Ford and Permian being down more than 50% from last year, but these figures are much better than the declines in the Bakken, Granite Wash and Barnett, which have come to a near standstill in production due to the price decline.

“There is no North American play unaffected by the decrease in prices. Most of the focus is on the plays with the lowest breakeven economics, and the Eagle Ford is one of the strongest left,” Bowden said. He added that while several large producers such as Apache, EOG and Anadarko have pulled back in the Eagle Ford, most producers have only dropped rigs.

Bowden said it will take longer than originally hoped for prices to recover. Companies are expected to take an austere approach to spending as it will take some time for supply and demand levels to find equilibrium, resulting in an extended oversupply situation.

The Eagle Ford has been one of the fastest growing plays in North America. It added more than 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas production each year from 2011 to 2014, which saw production outpace infrastructure growth.

Indeed, DCP Midstream experienced tremendous increases in its processing capacity and NGL production from 2010 to 2015. Processing increased from 800 million cubic feet per day to 1.2 Bcf/d, while NGL production rose from 33,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) to 81,000 bbl/d in the same timeframe, according to Francisco Uzcategui, vice president, commercial Midcontinent and Southern business units for DCP Midstream.

DCP Midstream still envisions the play as a key part of its growth strategy. “The Eagle Ford benefits from strong economics, proximity to markets and existing infrastructure,” Uzcategui said. He anticipates exports helping to balance the market between 2015 and 2017 with NGL prices strengthening as petrochemical demand increases as new infrastructure emerges in 2018 and 2019.

While the market waits for these projects, there is a benefit to be found in the slowdown. “Trying to keep up with that amount of growth was extremely difficult,” John Poarch, vice president, commercial and business development, Williams Cos., said. “If anything, the recent slowdown may give some midstream companies a chance to catch up.”

It is also possible that the MLP market will improve in the months ahead as the downturn in this sector has been too large, according to Bowden. The price downturn has caused investors to selloff energy exposed stocks, which has resulted in heavy selling in the MLP sector. Bowden noted that there was more selling in the sector in September and October than there was during the 2008 financial crisis.

“I think MLPs are oversold. While the commodity price market is challenging right now, a lot of MLPs have some structural protection against commodity prices for a reasonable period. MLPs are trading almost in a perfect correlation with their commodity, which has not been the case historically. It makes sense for an E&P company to be traded in that way, but midstream companies should be more muted,” Bowden said.

Frank Nieto can be reached at fnieto@hartenergy.com.