The Eagle Ford Shale rig count decreased by three to 268 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent Eagle Ford news, natural gas production in the U.S. was the best it’s ever been in April of 2014 according to estimates from Bentek Energy, an energy market analytics company based in Denver, CO. In 2014, Bentek predicts that average U.S. production for natural gas will be 67.5 Bcf/d, due in part to a higher overall price environment for producers and continued growth in liquids-rich plays like the Eagle Ford Shale and dry gas plays like the Marcellus Shale.

Read more: Natural Gas Production Soars in U.S.

The U.S. rig count decreased by six to 1,854 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 310 rigs were targeting natural gas (ten less than the previous week) and 1,542 were targeting oil in the U.S. (four more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 888or ~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 (213 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 decreased by two to 13 rigs running by the end of last week. Average rig counts for natural gas production in 2012 were around 82 and then dropped to around 41 in 2013. Natural gas prices stayed relatively flat from the previous week at $4.74/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count decreased by one to 255 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices increased by ~$4 from the previous week, trading at $106.91/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $103.25/bbl on June 6th.

A total of 237 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 14 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 17 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, De Witt, and McMullen counties each have at minimum 25 rigs running. De Witt County has the highest rig count this week at 33. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• Abraxas Raises Eagle Ford Cap-Ex Budget by $35 Million
• Natural Gas Production Soars in U.S.
• Could Lee County Be Another Eagle Ford Hot Spot?
• Number of Oil & Gas Jobs Continue to Rise in Texas

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 and/or Smith Service Co's (Schlumberger) Smith Rig Count.