Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Decreases by One to 271

Statoil and Talisman Eagle Ford Acreage Map
Statoil and Talisman Eagle Ford Acreage Map

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count decreased by one to 271 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent news, Talisman Energy Inc. and Statoil ASA have tabled plans to to sell their joint venture in the Eagle Ford Shale after offers came in lower than expected, Bloomberg reported in early July of 2014. The companies were seeking around $4-billion for a 50-50 partnership, according to Bloomberg, which cited unidentified sources knowledgeable on the matter.

Read more: Statoil - Talisman Sale of Eagle Ford JV Tabled

The U.S. rig count increased by one to 1,875 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 311 rigs were targeting natural gas (flat from the previous week) and 1,563 were targeting oil in the U.S. (one more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 898or ~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 (218 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 three to nine 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 fell slightly from the previous week to $4.14/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count increased by one to 262 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices decreased by nearly $3 from the previous week, trading at $100.76/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $97.25/bbl on July 11th.

A total of 241 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 11 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 19 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, and De Witt each have at minimum 29 rigs running. La Salle County has the highest rig count this week at 31. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

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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.