The Eagle Ford Shale rig count remained flat this week with 74 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford news, Juan Martin Bernal of Eagle Pass was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for his role in stealing $1.4 million in Eagle Ford Shale oil. Bernal was one of three defendants who pleaded guilty to one count of theft from an interstate shipment.

Read more: Eagle Ford Oil Thief Behind Bars

A total of 619 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week. 121 were targeting natural gas (six less than the previous week) and 498 were targeting oil in the U.S. (12 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)281 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. 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 below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Natural gas rigs in the Eagle Ford are at two this week as natural gas prices climbed, trading at $2.30/mmbtu, a $.16 increase from the previous week.

The Eagle Ford oil rig stayed at 71 with WTI oil prices ending the week at $35.99, an increase of $3.81. A total of 68 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells, and six are vertical rigs. Karnes County leads the region in development with 18 rigs this week. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

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Eagle Ford Oil Thief Behind Bars

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.

Read more at bakerhughes.com