The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by 2 to 266 rigs running over the past week.
In recent news, EOG Resource’s Eagle Ford resource potential went up 45% to 3.2 billion boe from 2.2 billion boe in 2013. In 2014, EOG will be focusing a large portion of its $8.1 – $8.3 billion capital budget in the Eagle Ford Shale. This decision comes on the heels of increased well productivity and initial production rates in the play in 2013.
Read more: EOG Resources Increases Eagle Ford Resource Potential by 1 Billion BOE in 2013
The U.S. rig count decreased by 2 to 1,769 running over the past week. A total of 335 rigs are targeting natural gas (7 less than last week) and 1,430 are targeting oil in the U.S. (5 more than last week). The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 844or ~48% 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 (221 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
The natural gas rig count increased by one rig to 36 running this past week. Average rig counts for natural gas production in 2012 were around 82 and then dropped to around 41 in 2013. Over the past week, natural gas decreased to $4.61/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.
The oil rig count increased by 1 to 230 rigs running. WTI oil prices stayed relatively flat, trading at ~$102/bbl by the end of the week. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $99.00/bbl on February 26th.
A total of 233 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 19 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 14 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, Dimmit and McMullen counties each have at minimum 24 rigs running. LaSalle County has the highest rig count this week at 33. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County:
South Texas Oil & Gas News:
- Cabot Completing First Six-Well Pad in Eagle Ford in 2014
- EOG Resources Increases Eagle Ford Resource Potential by 1 Billion BOE in 2013
- Chesapeake Accelerating Eagle Ford Pad Drilling Program in 2014
- Lonestar Resources Acquires Eagle Ford Acreage in $71.3 Million Deal
- Forest Oil Eagle Ford Drilling Shifting Gears in 2014 Due to Faulting
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.