The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count fell seven rigs to average 271 working units this past week. That's below the April average of 274 rigs, but not large enough to think it is a trend. Marathon will have at least two more rigs coming into the area, so the ramp up in drilling isn't over yet. The most active operator in the play has led the region for over 8 months now. Chesapeake has 34 rigs active with 12 in Dimmit County, 10 in La Salle, 6 in McMullen, and one in each of DeWitt, Frio, Webb, and Zavala counties. We'll breakout each of the top operators in the coming weeks.
Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs
The natural gas directed rig count rose two rigs this week to a total of 70. Henry Hub futures prices were trading at $2.29/mmbtu as of Friday afternoon. Natural gas storage numbers were more positive this week and the market responded. Oil directed activity fell 9 rigs to 201 as oil prices took a licking on the back of bad economic news on Friday. Prices fell below $100 and were trading around $98.50 per bbl at the end of the day.
254 horizontal rigs are running in the region. Karnes County leads development with 43 rigs. La Salle (39), McMullen (28), Dimmit (28), Webb (26), DeWitt (24), Gonzales (23), Live Oak (11), and Frio and Zavala counties with 8 rigs each make up the top Eagle Ford counties.
Many companies began reporting earnings this week and we'll have more news for you in the coming days. Here are the highlights from this past week:
- Aurora Oil & Gas Makes a Bid for Eureka Energy then Eureka's Board Recommended Rejecting the Offer
- Anadarko's Reserves Estimate Swells to 600 mmboe
- Comstock's Restricted Choke Program is Proving Successful
- Valero Expects 500,000 b/d of Eagle Ford CrudeProduction by Year-End 2012
- Hot Shot Drivers are in High Demand
If you are headed to San Antonio/South Texas, visit our Eagle Ford Hotels page. We've negotiated discounted rates with hotels that are welcoming the Oil & Gas Industry.
Come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts.
Drilling 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.
Drilling Rigs by County
