The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by one to 264 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.
In recent news, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given a subsidiary of Conneticut-based Castleton Commodities International the green light for the construction of new petroleum process facilities near Corpus Christi, TX. The EPA issued the final greenhouse gas and prevention of significant deterioration construction permit to the subsidiary, CCI Corpus Christi, LLC, on Sept. 15th.
The company plans to build two fractionation units, capable of producing a combined 100,000 b/d and a bulk petroleum terminal. The terminal will include storage tanks and barge loading operations that can handle 500,000 barrels a day of crude condensate for export.
Read more: EPA Grants Permit for $500 Million Corpus Christi Condensate Splitter
The U.S. rig count stayed flat at 1,931 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 329 rigs were targeting natural gas (nine less than the previous week) and 1,601 were targeting oil in the U.S. (9 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 (205 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 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 stayed relatively flat from the previous week at $3.84/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.
The oil rig count stayed flat at 252 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices stayed relatively flat from the previous week, trading at $92.48/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $89.00/bbl on Sept. 19th.
A total of 246 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, eight rigs are drilling directional wells, and ten rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, and Dimmit each have at minimum 25 rigs running. Karnes County has the highest rig count this week at 37. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below
South Texas Oil & Gas News:
- EPA Grants Permit for $500 Million Corpus Christi Condensate Splitter
- Buckeye Partners Closes Deal for Eagle Ford Assets
- Texas GLO Adds $1.26 Billion to Fund Public Schools
- Eagle Ford Sand Grab Underway
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.