The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count settled at 263 this past week. That is the same as last week even though we reported 247 rigs running on April 19, 2013. The difference is a shift from SmithBits to BakerHughes for our rig count data. SmithBits has discontinued its rig count service. Going forward we will be reporting rig count numbers from Baker Hughes.

Due to differences in the census taken by the two companies there are slight differences in the numbers.

*Note* Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers just 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 Shale Conference & Expo

Don't forget about the Eagle Ford Conference & Expo coming up on May 1-2 in Robstown. If you haven't registered yet, you can do so here:

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count settled at 29 rigs this past week. That is several more than the 17 SmithBits reported last week, but still near a low. Even using Baker's numbers, we're down about 84% from the peak of natural gas drilling in the area.

Natural gas prices were down 25 cents on the week, but still relatively strong at ~$4.15/mmbtu on Friday.

A total of 234 oil rigs are running in the region or four more than last week. The WTI crude oil price gained ground after international turmoil in Syria. WTI futures were trading at $92.75/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $90/bbl on April 25th.

Karnes and La Salle counties lead development with 34 and 30 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county at the bottom of the page.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• What To Watch For In The Eagle Ford - Video
• Eagle ford Oil Production Surpasses Half A Million bbls/d
• Video Of Halcon's CEO Floyd Wilson Discussing Core Plays
• Kinder Morgan's CEO Discussing Growing Oil & Gas Production

Our friends from the Texas Oil & Gas Associate and STEER contributed an article this week - Driving Safety A Top Priority For The Oil & Gas Industry

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

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.