Net Mexico Pipeline Rough Outline | Click to Enlarge
The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count settled at 245 units running this past week. La Salle County still leads with 33 rigs running.
Judging by announcements from operators, we should expect to see the rig count decline throughout 2013. Operators have dropped the average drilling time from 33 days to just 16 days currently. That would indicate the same number of wells could be drilled with less than half the number of rigs that were active at the peak (260+). To date, smaller operators have stepped in and increased their drilling efforts as the largest players have dropped rigs. We’ll see more of the same in 2013, but I suspect we’ll see a rig count closer to 200 than 250 in the coming months.
The biggest announcement of the week came from Net Midstream. The company plans to build a 124-mile, 42-inch natural gas pipeline from the Agua Dulce Hub in Nueces County to the border near Rio Grande City in Starr County. The pipeline will potentially export up to 2.1 Bcf/d, which would more than double current exports to Mexico. Read more in the article Net Midstream Plans Eagle Ford Pipeline to Mexico.
Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs
The oil rig count fell three to 216 running in the area. WTI crude futures traded down on the week to a little more than $90 per barrel. Eagle Ford crude prices traded at $101.12/bbl on the 28th of February. Eagle Ford light crude and condensate in the area traded at $88.50 and $87.50, respectively.
There are 201 horizontal rigs running in the region. Ten rigs in Webb County were reclassified this week from horizontal to directional. That change almost accounts for the entire drop in horizontal drilling this past week.. An injection well is being drilled in Karnes County.
La Salle County leads development with 33 rigs running. DeWitt (26), Gonzales (25), Karnes (25), Webb (25), McMullen (24), Dimmit (21), Live Oak (15), Atascosa (9), Leon (7), Wilson (7) and Lavaca (5) round out the top counties in the region.
South Texas Oil & Gas News:
- New Eagle Ford Water Facility In Karnes City
- Net Midstream Plans Eagle Ford Pipe to Mexico
- SM Energy Increased Eagle Ford Reserve Estimate
- Karnes City Changed By The Eagle Ford
Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts – Daily or Weekly Email Alerts
Eagle Ford Rig Count by Operator
| Operator Name | Prior Week | Current Week |
| BHP (Petrohawk) | 27 | 30 |
| EOG Resources | 26 | 25 |
| Chesapeake | 18 | 16 |
| Marathon Oil (Hilcorp) | 18 | 18 |
| ConocoPhillips | 11 | 11 |
| Pioneer Natural | 10 | 10 |
| Murphy Oil | 10 | 9 |
| Lewis Petroleum | 10 | 8 |
| Talisman Energy (Statoil) | 8 | 8 |
| Anadarko | 7 | 6 |
| Hunt Oil | 6 | 6 |
| Plains Exploration | 7 | 6 |
| Rosetta Resources | 6 | 6 |
| SM Energy | 4 | 6 |
| EP Energy | 5 | 5 |
| Halcon Resources | 5 | 5 |
| Shell | 5 | 5 |
| Swift Energy | 5 | 5 |
| Carrizo Oil & Gas | 4 | 4 |
| Penn Virginia | 3 | 3 |
| All Others | 52 | 53 |
| Total | 247 | 245 |
What is the Rig Count?
The Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across a 30 county area in South Texas. The South Texas rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by SmithBits and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford formation. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count and/or Smith Service Co’s (Schlumberger) Smith Rig Count.
Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County
| Texas County | Prior Week | Current Week | Texas County | Prior Week | Current Week | |
| LA SALLE | 36 | 33 | GRIMES | 3 | 3 | |
| DEWITT | 25 | 29 | FAYETTE | 2 | 2 | |
| GONZALES | 23 | 25 | ZAVALA | 0 | 2 | |
| KARNES | 26 | 25 | FRIO | 1 | 1 | |
| WEBB | 23 | 25 | AUSTIN | 0 | 0 | |
| MCMULLEN | 24 | 24 | BASTROP | 0 | 0 | |
| DIMMIT | 24 | 21 | BEE | 0 | 0 | |
| LIVE OAK | 16 | 15 | BURLESON | 0 | 0 | |
| ATASCOSA | 12 | 9 | COLORADO | 0 | 0 | |
| LEON | 7 | 7 | DUVAL | 1 | 0 | |
| WILSON | 6 | 7 | GOLIAD | 0 | 0 | |
| LAVACA | 6 | 5 | LEE | 0 | 0 | |
| MADISON | 5 | 5 | MAVERICK | 1 | 0 | |
| ROBERTSON | 3 | 4 | MILAM | 0 | 0 | |
| BRAZOS | 3 | 3 | Washington | 0 | 0 |
About R.T. Dukes
Does anybody know the reputation or activity of Dan Hughes Oil out of Beeville? Where is he leasing of drilling in Eagle Ford?? Thank you.
Anyone know if Burnett Oil is trying to sell their leases in the Blackhill Area of Atascosa County along the Wilson County line and FM 478 ? Not much activity in the lease area , I just asume they are out of money .
Who could I contact to in regards to selling ready mix/concrete to the oil companies in the Eagle Ford area?
You might consider listing in the the Eagle Ford MarketPlace to gain exposure. Otherwise, I’d begin reaching out to the operators and service companies directly.
i worked the pipeline industry in cotulla, gardendale, lasalle, and around pearsall the last 2 yrs. the co. i worked for finished the pipeline we were doing and they’re done.. i’ve been trying to find a job in that particular area but have noticed many companies (pipeline) are gone. to get to my question, is pipeline about dead in that particular area? or where is it headed now? thanks for the info.
There are still several projects being developed, but you might have to move around a little. Net Midstream is getting ready to construct a pipeline from Nueces County to the Mexican border.