The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count remained flat at 257 rigs running over the past week. An average of 253 drilling rigs worked throughout November and we're starting even higher the first week of December. The last month of the year is setting up to be the most active drilling month in the Eagle Ford's history. The approximate 210-215 rigs targeting the Eagle Ford formation will easily drill more than 220 wells in December. Oil futures prices continue to show strength (WTI <$100/bbl) and natural gas futures prices (HH<$3.60/mmbtu) are leaving a lot to be desired for companies and mineral owners alike. The January contract for natural gas is better than December, but it is going to take a lot of cold weather to get prices to move in a positive direction. The natural gas rig count fell 4 to a total of 97 rigs. That's the first time natural gas drilling has dropped below 100 rigs in almost a year. A total of 5 oil rigs were added to bring us back up to 160 running.
Webb County did drop below 40 rigs during the week. Webb (38) still leads the region, while Karnes (34), La Salle (32), Dimmit (26), DeWitt (21), Gonzales (19), and McMullen (19) counties together account for 85% of Eagle Ford drilling. The companies with the most significant changes were Petrohawk (BHP) who dropped 3 rigs and Chesapeake who added 2 .
News highlighted throughout the play included:
Stay tuned for updates on the South Texas drilling rig count.
Drilling 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.
Drilling Rigs by County
