Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Increases by 2 to 262

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by two to 262 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent news, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) reported state-wide crude oil production of 2.16-million b/d for June, 2014, at the end of August. That’s less than a 1% increase from the previous month, but 29% from the same time in 2013. Most of the state’s oil production in June came from the Eagle Ford Shale and West Texas’ Permian Basin.

The U.S. rig count increased by 18 to 1,914 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 338 rigs were targeting natural gas (eight more than the previous week) and 1,575 were targeting oil in the U.S. (11 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 900 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 (203 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 one to 12 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 increased by more than $.20 from the previous week to $4.08/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count increased by three to 250 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices increased by ~$2 from the previous week, trading at $95.85/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $92.50/bbl on August 29th.

A total of 247 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, six rigs are drilling directional wells, and nine rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, De Witt, and Webb each have at minimum 25 rigs running. Karnes County has the highest rig count this week at 34. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below

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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.