The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count settled at 264 this past week. That is one more than last week when 263 rigs were running.

It was an event packed week, with companies reporting earnings and the Eagle Ford Conference & Expo in Robstown Wednesday and Thursday. We'll have more details from many Eagle Ford operators later next week.

Chesapeake reported this week and noted their drilling time had fallen to 18 days from 25 days at this time last year and that they believe the drilling time could fall to 13 days. They are also reducing their rig count to 13 in the second half of the year. That's down from 30+ just a year ago. It's a steep drop, but the improvement in drilling time decreases the impact substantially.

Read more in the article Chesapeake's Eagle Ford Drilling Time Improving - Rig Count Down

*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

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count settled at 29 rigs this past week. That is no change from one week prior.

Natural gas prices were down 10 cents on the week, but still holding above $4 at $4.05/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

A total of 235 oil rigs are running in the region or one more than last week. WTI futures were trading at $95.75/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $90.50/bbl on May 2nd.

Karnes and La Salle 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:

• Hess Loses $800 Million Exiting The Eagle Ford
• Enterprise Products Third Yoakum Processing Plant Online
• Chesapeake's Eagle Ford Drilling Time Improving - Rig Count Down Further

Our friend Omar Garcia from STEER contributed an article this week - 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.

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.