The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count grew by two to average 273 rigs over the past week. That's a 2013 high and the highest number since the first week of December 2012. Oil drilling levels fell off the high set last week to settle at 240 rigs running.

The U.S. rig count is up 6 to 1,776, of which 848 are running in Texas. A total of 369 rigs are targeting natural gas and 1,401 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).

The week was highlighted by a completion report filed by EOG Resources. The well produced more than 8,600 boe/d broken down as 7,513 barrels of oil and over 6.8 mmcfd of natural gas. You can read more in the article: EOG Well Sets Eagle Ford Production Record

*Note* Now quoting Baker Hughes. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (~237 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 in the region added three rigs to bring the total to 33. Natural gas futures were trading near $3.56/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. This marks the first week in the past month that the commodity will end below $3.60/mmbtu.

One fewer or 240 oil rigs are running in the region this week. WTI prices have held above $100 per barrel over the past three weeks. The oil benchmark was trading over $104/bbl on Friday. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $102/bbl on July 24th.

A total of 214 rigs are drilling horizontal wells and just 13 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. McMullen & Karnes counties lead development with 35 and 32 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• EOG Sets Eagle Ford Single-Well Production Record
• Koontz McCombs Opens Sendero Ranch - Dilley Location - Press Release
• Eagle Ford Oil Output Surpasses 600,000 b/d in May
• Hours of Service Driving Trucks In South Texas - Fox
• NuStar Planning Eagle Ford Oil Pipeline Expansion
• Carrizo Oil & Gas Expects The Eagle Ford To Drive Production Growth

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

Eagle Ford Operated Rig Count By Company

SmithBits no longer reports its operated rig count, but we'll have updated number for you from a new source soon. Until then, you can reference our numbers from mid-April. There has not been a significant change in the overall rig count since this date:

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.