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

[ic-l]Two rigs targeting natural gas were added during the week to reach 31 running.

Natural gas prices were downa 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:

• EOG's Eagle Ford Well Production Rates Soar
• Marathon Oil Writes Down Its Eagle Ford Acreage
• 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.

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.