Eagle Ford Oil Production Forecasts | Click to Enlarge

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count decreased by three to 264 rigs running. That is one more rig than the average so far this year.

We spent time out at Bentek Energy’s Benposium Conference this week and there were a lot of great Eagle Ford takeaways. One of those was a comparison of the company’s Eagle Ford oil production forecast from two years ago to today. In short, the play is producing just as much today as the company had forecast for 2016 and is now projected to surpass 1.4 million barrels per day in 2016.

Read our highlights in the article Eagle Ford Oil Production Growing Twice As Fast – Bentek

*Note* Now quoting Baker Hughes. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (~230 rigs). Our numbers cover a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table at the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Natural gas prices were up a little to more than $4 again at $4.06/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. It has been a mild May, so having a $4 price and not a $2 price is a nice gift for natural gas producers.

A total of 227 oil rigs are running in the region. WTI futures were almost unchanged from the past two weeks at $96/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $91.50/bbl on May 16th.

Karnes and La Salle counties lead development with 39 and 34 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county at the bottom of the page.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• Swift Energy’s Eagle Ford Wells Continue To Improve – Looking For Partner
• Eagle Ford Is Making Winners Out Of Many
• Eagle Ford Oil Production Growing Twice As Fast As Thought
• Newfield Moving To Pad Drilling – Driving Costs Down
• Women’s Energy Network Starts South Texas Chapter – Press Release

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 Shale Drilling by County

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 Baker Hughes 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.

Womens Energy Network

The Women’s Energy Network (WEN) has started a South Texas Chapter.

With the Eagle Ford oil & gas boom, there are more energy professionals than ever in the area. The group celebrated their launch this past week at Tesoro’s offices and will be holding more regular events throughout the year.

Learn more about joining at womensenergynetwork.org

The Women’s Energy Network is an international organization that provides networking opportunities and fosters career and leadership development. Almost 2,000 women are members of the group.

The Women’s Energy Network is an organization exclusively for women in the energy industry. Founded in 1994, WEN now has seven chapters throughout the country: Appalachia, Greater Atlanta, Houston, North Texas, South Texas, Southeast Louisiana, and Washington D.C. WEN offers the exclusive opportunity to learn from some of the field’s most experienced women, or take on a leadership role and advise others in advancing their careers. Nearly 2,000 professional women in the industry have already plugged into the resources and networking opportunities offered through WEN.

The article above was published through EagleFordShale.com’s press release distribution service. Learn more about Eagle Ford Advertising Here.

Newfield’s Eagle Ford Focus Areas | Click to Enlarge

Newfield is one of the first to show what I expect we’ll see from others later in the year.

The company’s Eagle Ford production was down in the first quarter, BUT it will surge in the second quarter when well pads that are already drilled are completed.

Others will experience this as well. Pad drilling will make production profiles look much more choppy than they have been to date.

Newfield drilled six new super extended laterals from in the quarter and lowered its well costs by $400,000 per well to $7.8 million. Recent well costs have fallen to $7.7 million. That’s a good trend that will improve realized returns. The Eagle Ford is yielding returns that rank among the highest in the company.

The company is running two rigs and plans to drill most of its wells from common pads. Newfield produced approximately 5,200 boe/d in the fourth quarter of 2012, 4,830 boe/d in the first quarter of this year, and is expected to produce 7,000 boe/d in the second quarter of 2013. Newfield expects to exit the year producing approximately 14,000 boe/d.

Production growth is expected to be 75% in 2013 and 50% in 2014.

Read the full press release at newfield.com

Eagle Ford Oil Production Forecasts | Click to Enlarge

Eagle Ford crude oil production has grown twice as fast as anyone thought just two years ago. That was the message delivered at day 2 of Bentek’s annual Benposium.

Rusty Braziel, founder of RBN Energy, compared the company’s forecast from two years ago to what the company expects today. What was predicted as production for 2016 in 2011 has already been eclipsed! In 2011, Bentek expected Eagle Ford oil production would eclipse 800,000 b/d sometime in 2016.

Well, the play eclipsed 800,000 b/d sometime at the end of 2012 and is now expected to produce more than 1.4 million b/d by 2016. How’s that for impressive production growth.

Other highlights from the conference included:

• The average Eagle Ford well drilling time is estimated at 20 days – Down from 38 in 2010
• Some Eagle Ford crude will have to be moved by water – Gulf Coast demand will not be enough

Bentek’s annual Benposium conference is held in Houston each Spring.

Swift Eagle Ford Acreage Map | Click to Enlarge

Swift Energy expects to ink an Eagle Ford JV deal by the third quarter of 2013. The company doesn’t believe a joint venture is required, but does believe the capital will provide a benchmark valuation of the company’s assets. It will also speed up the development process and improve the present value of the underlying assets.

During the first quarter of 2013, Swift completed seven Eagle Ford wells and two Olmos wells.

Terry Swift, CEO, stated “Our refined drilling and completion techniques in the Eagle Ford shale and the strong performance of our base production in Lake Washington resulted in higher than forecast production volumes.  We’re encouraged by our progress so far this year.

A total of four Eagle Ford wells and two Olmos wells were completed in McMullen County. Three more Eagle Ford wells were completed in La Salle County. Four of those wells produced more than 1,000 boe/d:

• Baetz A EF 3H  in La Salle County – 1,293 boe/d – Eagle Ford
• PCQ EF 7H in McMullen County- 1,742 boe/d – Eagle Ford
• Siddons OL 4H in McMullen County- 1,108 boe/d – Olmos
• SMR OL 6H in McMullen County- 1,074 boe/d – Olmos

Read the full press release at swiftenergy.com

OTC Awards Banquet | Courtesy Barchfeld Photography

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count expanded by three rigs to 267 running this past week. That is the most active rigs we’ve seen working the area since the end of January.

Earnings reports continued this week with Anadarko, EOG Resources, Marathon Oil, and SM Energy all providing Eagle Ford operating updates. EOG reported that 27 wells were completed in the quarter that produced oil at rates of greater than 2,500 b/d. On the other side of the coin, Marathon reported it was writing down acreage the company wouldn’t develop, but still didn’t disappoint with 22% Eagle Ford growth over the fourth quarter of 2012.

We also spent time out at OTC this week. If you’ve never been and have an engineering mindset, you should go just to see the exhibits. Almost 105,000 people attended this year. You can read more about our experience in the article – OTC Sheds Light On New Technologies

*Note* Now quoting Baker Hughes. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (~230 rigs). Our numbers cover a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table at the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Natural gas prices were down  a little more than 10 cents on the week at $3.90/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. Prices are holding higher than many expected, but cold weather across the country is putting downward pressure on the commodity price.

A total of 236 oil rigs are running in the region or one more than last week. WTI futures were almost unchanged from last week at $95.90/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $92.50/bbl on May 10th.

Karnes and McMullen counties lead development with 33 and 32 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county at the bottom of the page.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• SM Energy Expects Eagle Ford Condensate Discount
• EOG’s Eagle Ford Well Production Rates Soar
• Marathon Oil Writes Down Its Eagle Ford Acreage
• Anadarko’s Eagle Ford Wells Costs Down Below $6 Million
• OTC Sheds Light On New Technologies

If you missed it last week, our friend Omar Garcia from STEER contributed an article – Ensuring The Future of South Texas

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 Shale Drilling by County

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 Baker Hughes 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.

OTC Awards Banquet | Courtesy Barchfeld Photography

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) has really outgrown its name. While the name indicates an offshore focus, you’ll find companies who service the oil & gas industry in all walks on and off shore.

Attendance set a record at almost 105,000. That’s the highest since 1982.

If you didn’t attend, you missed out on over 2,700 industry exhibits displaying new technologies that improve oil and gas exploration and operations.

A few highlights include:

• Statoils remote welding robot that allows a company to tie into a live pipe
• Geogrid technology from Tensar that strengthens rig pads and can be used to decrease erosion
• Water desalination technology advances
• New, improved version of GE’s blind sheer ram (part of the BOP)
• A rig that is almost fully automated and robotic – no humans on the deck floor
• Downhole pipe cutting tool that leaves smooth edges

We only spent a day at the OTC conference, but you can read more about the whole week at fuelfix.com

Anadarko Eagle Ford Acreage Map | Click to Enlarge

Anadarko’s Eagle Ford production is up 55% from one year ago to 42,200 boe/d. Liquids volumes account for 28,000 b/d of production and grew even faster at a rate of 60% over the past year.

Anadarko drilled 70 Eagle Ford wells in the quarter with an average of eight rigs working. Drilling times continue to fall and many of the company’s wells are now drilled in less than 10 days. Completion costs are coming down as well and the company is spending an average of $5.5-6 million per well.

Charles Meloy, Senior VP, stated “We are in the middle of doing tie-ins to the Brasada plant, and so we will have quite a bit of downtime associated in our Eagle Ford production area as we tie in the Brasada plant and the associated facilities in the field.”

The company is bringing 200 mmcf/d of processing capacity online in the second quarter. The Brasada Plant is just south of Cotulla in La Salle County, TX, and will be completed in late May or early June. Anadarko has spent $100 million to build the plant and will increase its liquids yield even more when the plant comes online.

Read the full first quarter press release at anadarko.com

Marathon Oil Core Acreage | Click to Enlarge

Marathon Oil is writing down $340 million in unproven acreage in Bee, DeWitt, Lavaca, and Wilson counties.

The acreage isn’t necessarily bad, but it either doesn’t compete with the rest of Marathon’s acreage or lease expirations are simply coming quicker than the company can deploy rigs (capital).

After making several acquisitions over the past few years, it really comes as no surprise.

Not everything was being written down. Marathon’s production grew 22% over the fourth quarter of 2012 to reach an average of 72,000 boe/d (64% oil).

Marathon hit total depth on 76 gross wells and brought 68 gross wells to production in the quarter. Spud to spud drilling time improved to an average of 18 days on the quarter. That’s down from 28 days one year ago. Pad drilling should drive drilling times down further.

Downspacing tests have been positive and the company expects to develop its acreage on a maximum of 80-acre spacing. Expect more definitive results from 40-60 acre spacing tests in the second half of the year.

Read the full press release at marathonoil.com