The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by one rig to 267 running over the past week.

News was highlighted by Sanchez Energy's plans for nearly $600 million in development spending in the Eagle Ford. Sanchez also expects to double production over the next year.

Read the full article: Sanchez Energy Expects Eagle Ford Development Spending to Near $600 Million

The U.S. rig count increased by twenty-three (23) rigs from 1,754 to 1,777 running over the past week. A total of 365 rigs are targeting natural gas (8 more than last week) and 1,408 are targeting oil in the U.S. (15 more than last week). The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 841 or 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 (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 increased by five rigs to 35 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 held relatively flat around ~$4.30/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count decreased by 4 to 232 rigs running. WTI oil prices increased slightly, trading at just over $94/bbl by the end of the week. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $90.75/bbl on January 17th.

A total of 228 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 24 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 15 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes, DeWitt, La Salle, and McMullen counties all have between 27 and 34 rigs running. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• Eagle Ford Roads Impacted by Higher Traffic & Inadequate Funding - Tunstall
• 2013 Gulf Coast Oil & Gas Awards Finalist Announced - Press Release
• Dogget Makes $30 Million in Acquisitions to Expand in the Eagle Ford
• Sanchez Energy Expects Eagle Ford Development Spending to Near $600 Million
• U.S. Headed For Energy Self-Sufficiency - Exxon CEO - Video

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.