The Eagle Ford Shale rig count held flat at 265 rig running over the past week. The natural gas rig count rebounded from an Eagle Ford era low of 23 to 26 running this week and the oil rig count fell from it's all-time high of 241 to 238.

Forest Oil released its 2014 capital budget and provided production guidance this week. The company plans to spend 77% of its $290-310 million capital budget in the Eagle Ford and expects production from the play to double over the next 12 months.

Forest will operate three rigs in the region next year. Read more in the article: Forest Oil Will Double Oil Production in 2014 - Securing Eagle Ford Acreage

The U.S. rig count increased 12 rigs from 1,763 to 1,775 running over the past week. A total of 375 rigs are targeting natural gas (8 more than last week) and 1,397 (6 more than last week) are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 842 or 47% of rigs active in the U.S. 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 (226 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 bounced off an Eagle Ford era low of 23 to 26 rigs running over the past week. At this time in 2012, there were more than 60 rigs and in 2011 there were more than 90 rigs targeting natural gas in the area. Natural gas prices were up again, about 10% over the past two weeks, trading around $4.10/mmbtu on Friday. With the current cold, prices could stay around $4 or higher until spring.

The oil rig count decreased three rigs from the all time high hit for the second time last week to settle at 238 rigs running. WTI oil prices were up ~5% and trading above $97/bbl at the end of the week. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $93.75/bbl on Dec. 5th.

A total of 231 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 18 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 16 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes, DeWitt, La Salle, McMullen and Webb counties all have between 25 and 31 rigs running. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• Forest Oil Will Double Oil Production in 2014 - Securing Eagle Ford Acreage
• Newfield's Eagle Ford Production Is Set to Surge at Year-End
• Oil & Gas Growth Expected in 2014 - Dallas Fed
• Gulf Coast Oil & Gas Award Nominations Due Dec 12th - Press Release

Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

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.