The Eagle Ford Shale rig count decreased by one to 260 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.
In recent Eagle Ford news, amidst falling crude prices and dire predictions about the future of the industry, Wood Mackenzie announced that Eagle Ford reached an impressive milestone in November as production topped one billion barrels. Over the past two years, production in the Eagle Ford play has exploded and elevated the area as a major force in the world energy market.
Read more: Eagle Ford Reaches One Billion Barrels of Crude
The U.S. rig count decreased by 27 to 1,893 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 346 rigs were targeting natural gas (up 2 from the previous week) and 1,546 were targeting oil in the U.S. (29 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).872 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 (204 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 stayed flat at 18 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 stayed flat from the previous week at $3.74/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.
The oil rig count decreased by one to 242 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices decreased by ~$6.00 from the previous week, trading at $57.99/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $56.50/bbl on December 12th.
A total of 244 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, six rigs are drilling directional wells, and 10 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, Dimmit, and DeWitt each have at minimum 27 rigs running. Dimmit County has the highest rig count this week at 35. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below
South Texas Oil & Gas News:
- Eagle Ford Reaches One Billion Barrels of Crude
- ConocoPhillips Announces Capex Reduction in 2015
- Eagle Ford Reaches 1-Billion Barrels - Nov. 2014
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.