Eagle Ford Regional Drilling at 271 Rigs - March 23, 2012
The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count fell 4 rigs to 271 active in the region. The region has held above 270 rigs for three weeks in a row and has added more than 100 rigs over the past 12 months. For reference, there are only 1,900-2,000 rigs running in all of the U.S.
Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs
Natural gas directed rigs increased by 3 to 76 this past week. That's up week over week, but down from the 125 active rigs that were running in October of 2011. Over 95% of the active gas rigs are running in core Eagle Ford counties. Over half (40) are running in DeWitt and Webb Counties alone. Oil directed activity fell to 194 active rigs after spending two weeks above 200.
Natural gas prices are trading around 10-year lows at $2.27/mmbtu as of Friday afternoon. Oil prices fell a couple of dollars to $106 per barrel (WTI), on concerns higher prices are leading to changes in our consumption habits. With gasoline prices at record levels for this time of year, it seems likely the average American will drive less, possibly much less, this summer than normal.
Horizontal wells account for activity from 255 rigs and we have 1 storage well being drilled in La Salle County. Karnes County leads development with 41 rigs. La Salle (38), Webb (32), DeWitt (29), McMullen (25), Gonzales (22), Dimmit (21), Atascosa (10), and Live Oak (10) make up the top Eagle Ford counties.
News from the week included:
- Cuero Gets Its First Major Housing Development in 20 Years
- Magnum Hunter's Eureka Hunter Subsidiary Deals For TransTex Gas Services
- Eagle Ford Opportunities - Highlights Form the Governor's Small Biz Form
- Enterprise Products Plans Fractionators 7 & 8 at Mont Belvieu
- Carrizo Sells Barnett Assets to Fund Eagle Ford Development
If you're traveling to San Antonio soon, be sure to visit our Eagle Ford Hotels page. We've negotiated discounted rates with hotels that are welcoming the Oil & Gas Industry.
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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.