The Eagle Ford Shale rig count decreased by four to 272 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.
In recent Eagle Ford news, lower commodities prices for crude oil aren’t likely to stop new drilling in the Eagle Ford. With breakeven oil prices between $50 – $60 per barrel, in certain liquids-rich areas of the play, operators will continue to drill, even if prices inch closer to this range.
Should prices drop to $70 per barrel, experts believe the Eagle Ford will likely experience a slowdown, but not an all out bust. And some producers will fare better than others, depending on their position.
Read more: Worried About Oil Prices? Here's What to Expect in the Eagle Ford
The U.S. rig count decreased by four to 1,925 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 356 rigs were targeting natural gas (ten more than the previous week) and 1,568 were targeting oil in the U.S. (14 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 906 or ~48% of rigs active in the U.S. were 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 (212 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
The natural gas rig count increased by three to 20 rigs running by the end of last week. Average rig counts for natural gas production in 2012 were around 80 and then dropped to around 40 in 2013. Natural gas prices rose by $.58 from the previous week to $4.46/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.
The oil rig count decreased by seven to 252 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices decreased by ~$1.50 from the previous week, trading at $78.95/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $74.25/bbl on Nov. 6th.
A total of 252 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 13 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 7 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, Dimmit, and DeWitt each have at minimum 25 rigs running. Dimmit County has the highest rig count this week at 39. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below
South Texas Oil & Gas News:
- Worried About Oil Prices? Here's What to Expect in the Eagle Ford
- Eagle Ford Ghost Town Coming Back to Life
Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates.
Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County
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.