The Eagle Ford Shale rig countdecreased by two rigs from 271 to 269 running this past week. This marks the last full week in September and the Eagle Ford region has seen an average of more than 265 rigs running each week throughout the first nine months of the year.

Eagle Ford production growth hasn't stopped and with production growth we'll get pipeline expansions. Plains All American and Enterprise Products announced plans to expand the companies' Eagle Ford JV pipeline that moves light and medium crude grades to Corpus Christi. The companies will spend $120 million to expand capacity from 350,000 b/d to 470,000 b/d. They'll also add more than 2 million barrels in storage capacity in the region. For more information, read the full article Plains & Enterprise Announce Eagle Ford JV Pipeline Expansion

The U.S. rig count increased 13 rigs from 1,761 to 1,774 running over the past week. A total of 376 rigs are targeting natural gas (10 less than last week) and 1,362 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 825 rigs are running in Texas.

Baker Hughes rig count is quoted here. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (229 rigs). The rig count published on EagleFordShale.com includes a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table near the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count fell one from 39 to 38 rigs running over the past week. Natural gas prices fell a little more than 5% during the week and futures were trading around $3.50/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. Even though prices are down over the past week, natural gas prices seem to be settling in at the $3.50-4.00 range.

The oil rig count decreased by one rig from 231 to 230 running. WTI oil prices were trading just below $103/bbl. Oil prices have been above $100 for 12 weeks nowl. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $99.50/bbl on Sept 26th.

A total of 228 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 28 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 13 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. McMullen and Karnes counties lead development with 35 and 31 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• Enterprise Completes Its 7th NGL Fractionator at Mont Belvieu
• Eagle Ford Facts That Might Surprise You
• Port of Corpus Christi Oil Exports Are Exceeding Oil Imports
• Plains & Enterprise Announce Eagle Ford Pipeline Expansion
• Valero Files to Create Logistics MLP - Valero energy Partners

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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.