Eagle Ford Shale drilling fell one rig to 266 running this past week. Atascosa County, with an increase of two rigs drilling, had the biggest change of any county. There are nine rigs running in the county, but even that is down from the peak of 15 in September 2012.
During the week, we highlighted that Texas oil production has reached levels not seen in more than 20 years! The graph shows just how much has changed in the past few years. Texas has reversed 30 years of declining oil production. Texas production eclipsed 2 million b/d in September 2012 and has almost doubled from lows just a few years ago. Texas is also helping drive production growth across the county. U.S. production is up almost 62% over the same time period.
Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs
The natural gas rig count fell four rigs to 49. Natural gas prices fell further this week. NYMEX natural gas was trading $3.55 on Friday afternoon. That's approaching 15% lower than the highs realized two weeks ago.
The oil rig count gained one rig to reach 215 running in the area. WTI crude futures were down slightly on the week. Oil was trading ~$88 per barrel on Friday. Eagle Ford crude priced at $97.75/bbl on the 6th of December. Light crude and condensate in the area traded at $82.75 and $81.75, respectively.
There are 256 horizontal rigs running in the region and one storage well is being drilled in Zavala County.
La Salle County leads development with 39 rigs running. Karnes with 35 rigs, McMullen (28), Dimmit (22), Gonzales (22), Webb (22), DeWitt (19), Live Oak (13), Atascosa (9), Fayette (8) and Lavaca (8) round out the top Eagle Ford counties. [ic-c] South Texas Oil & Gas News:
- Marathon Oil Sets Its 2013 Eagle Ford Spending Plans - $1.9 Billion
- Texas Oil Production Surpassed 1988 Levels in September 2012
- Freeport-McMoRan & PXP Reach $6.9 Billion Deal
Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates.
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
