Eagle Ford Shale drilling held flat at 274 rigs running over the past week. The week was highlighted by DUG Eagle Ford in San Antonio on Monday and Tuesday. Several thousand people were on hand to hear the latest presentations on activity and issues in the play. We shared our notes earlier in the week in the article Heard at DUG Eagle Ford 2012. While the conference has Eagle Ford in the name, many of the presentations focused on potential in other formations.
The resource potential in the Austin Chalk, Buda, Chalkleford, Eaglebine, Escondido, Olmos, and Woodbine formations could make this an oil & gas boom that extends much longer than the life of the Eagle Ford. South Texas will likely be known for oil & gas the rest of our lifetime.
Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs
The natural gas rig count bounced off a low of 38 to add 15 rigs this past week. There are 53 natural gas rigs working in the region, but the shift is attributable to counties where oil and wet gas targets are present (DeWitt, La Salle, and Webb counties)
The oil rig count fell off its record of 235 rigs last week to settle at 220 this week. While 15 rigs is significant, remember most were simply reclassified in liquids-rich Eagle Ford counties.
Just one service well is currently being drilled and it is a water well in Bastrop County.
Henry Hub futures were slightly week over week to $3.62 on Friday. Spot prices were up by more than ten cents to $3.43/mmbtu.
WTI was down on the day to end the week trading at ~$92 per barrel. Eagle Ford crude priced at $98.93/bbl on the 19th of October. Light crude and condensate in the area traded at $86.50 and $85.50, respectively.
There are 262 horizontal rigs running in the region. La Salle County still leads development with 39 rigs running. Karnes with 36 rigs, McMullen (25), Webb (25), Dimmit (24), Gonzales (22), DeWitt (19), Atascosa (14), Live Oak (12), and Frio (10) round out the top Eagle Ford counties.
News items this week included:
- San Antonio Central Railroad Opening
- Valerus is Opening a San Antonio Office
- Marathon Oil Plans to Sell Almost 100,000 Eagle Ford Acres
If you didn't catch it last week, be sure to read Devorah Fox's article titled Tied Down Cargo and Load Securement.
Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts.
Eagle Ford Rig Count by Operator
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 SmithBits 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.
Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County
