Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count at 253 - December 28, 2012

Valero Quebec City Refinery
Valero Quebec City Refinery

Eagle Ford Shale regional drilling dropped three rigs to settle at 253 running the week of Christmas. The biggest move of the week was in Karnes County where three rigs were dropped and there are now 27 rigs running. This marks the first time fewer than 30 rigs have been running in the county since July of 2011.

If you didn't get a chance, be sure you see the new Eagle Ford Well Map and watch a new video of Eagle Ford Well Activity Start to Finish - sent in by Marathon. Also in the news, Valero received approval to export crude oil to Canada. Valero expects to save $2 per barrel by utilizing South Texas oil vs oil from across the Atlantic at its refinery in Quebec City, Canada. Read more in the article Eagle Ford Crude to Canada?

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

The natural gas rig count added three rigs to rise to 49 running this past week. Natural Gas prices were up two cents from this time last week to $3.47/mmbtu.

The oil rig count fell to 202 running in the area. WTI crude futures were trading near $91 per bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford crude priced at $102.25/bbl on the 27th of December. Eagle Ford light crude and condensate in the area traded at $87.25 and $86.25, respectively.

There are 240 horizontal rigs running in the region. One disposal well was being drilled in Frio County and one storage well was being drilled in Zavala County.

La Salle County leads development with 33 rigs running. Karnes with 27 rigs, McMullen (27), Dimmit (26), Gonzales (22), Webb (22), DeWitt (21), Live Oak (13), Fayette (8), Lavaca (8), Atascosa (7), Wilson (7), Frio (6), and Leon (6) round out the top counties in the region. [ic-c]

Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates.

Eagle Ford Rig Count by Operator

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