Editing Dimmit County, Texas (section)

===Oil===
[[File:Austin Chalk stratigraphic column in Texas.png|thumb|300px|San Miguel and Olmos Formations [[stratigraphic column]]]]
The Big Wells oil field, east of [[Big Wells, Texas|Big Wells]], was discovered in 1969. The field produces from the [[Cretaceous]] San Miguel [[formation (geology)|Formation]] [[sandstone]] underlying the [[Olmos Formation]] sandstone. The field extends north into [[Zavala County, Texas|Zavala]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Layden|first1=R.L.|editor1-last=Braunstein|editor1-first=Jules|title=Big Wells Field, Dimmit and Zavala Counties, Texas, in North American Oil and Gas Fields|date=1976|publisher=The American Association of Petroleum Geologists|location=Tulsa|isbn=978-0891813002|pages=145–156}}</ref>

The [[Eagle Ford Group|Eagle Ford oil field]] was reported to be under development in 2011, with 3,000 wells projected to extract oil by [[hydraulic fracturing]] from tight shale formations. The oil play has improved business activity in the county, but raised fears regarding the adequacy of water supplies, as fracking requires injection of large quantities of water under pressure into wells to break surrounding rock.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last=Krauss|first=Clifford|title=Shale Boom in Texas Could Increase U.S. Oil Output|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/28/business/energy-environment/28shale.html|access-date=May 28, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 27, 2011|quote=the hottest new oil play in the country}}</ref>