In Cotulla, Texas, Life Rises And Falls With The Price Of Oil

Cotulla, United States, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2019 ) :Small town Cotulla, a self-proclaimed "hotel capital" in Texas oil country, is riding high on the recent recovery in crude prices.

But four years after an oil bust left the town reeling, locals are wary of repeating the same painful story.

With 24 hotels in a town of only 4,200 people, Cotulla lies on the road to the Permian Basin, the world's largest active oil field, and to America's largest oil export terminal in Corpus Christi.

Convoys of trucks carrying crude or sand, key to extracting shale oil, pass through the town regularly.

Their hurried activity stands in sharp contrast to the somber string of chain hotels, which greet visitors as they approach the town of just five square kilometers (1.9 square miles).

"Anyone who is new to Cotulla asks the same question: why are there so many hotels?" said Stephanie Patel, a manager at a local 65-room La Quinta.

Cotulla's central location, in the middle of the Eagle Ford Shale oil field in South Texas and near the Permian Basin, converted it to a necessary road stop for the oil industry, but also for trade with Mexico, thanks to its place on one of the nation's longest roads.