Anadarko to open West Texas man camp despite oil setback

​MENTONE – Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is set to open a new workforce housing facility, akin to what has been dubbed a man camp, near El Paso. The facility is nearer to Odessa by the map.

The 77,180-sf facility, located in Mentone, is capable of housing 200 Anadarko employees and contractors, according to a statement from Anadarko’s general contractor and property manager Target Logistics, which has its operational headquarters in The Woodlands.

The timing counters the trend of man camps in the Bakken and Utica shale plays turning into ghost towns as cash strapped oil and gas companies wind down their drilling activities.

In September, vacancy rates in Williams County, ND—in the heart of the Bakken—reached 70 percent, according to a Bloomberg report.

To maintain production in the Eagle Ford, producers made use of hotels in the region, although Halliburton did cancel its extended-stay contract with InstaLodge Hotel & Suites in Cotulla in the first half of 2015.

But Anadarko sees prospects in the Delaware Basin in West Texas.

"We have about 600,000 gross acres in the most prospective area of the Delaware Basin, estimated recoverable resources of more than one billion barrels of oil equivalent," said Stephanie Moreland, spokesperson for Anadarko. "The new facility provides quality accommodations for our current number of employees and contractors, and we have the flexibility to expand in an improved commodity-price environment to support potential growth in future years."