The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by seven to 269 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent Eagle Ford news, Australian-based Sundance Energy announced the acquisition of 11,000 net acres in Dimmit and Maverick counties for $33-million and a four gross Eagle Ford well drilling commitment to the seller. The deal adds 115 gross (69 net) locations to the company’s Eagle Ford drilling inventory and approximately 200 boe/d in production. Sundance now has approximately 19,500 net Eagle Ford acres covering 295 gross (196 net) drilling locations.

Read more: Sundance Energy Acquires 11,000 Net Eagle Ford Acres for $33-Million

The U.S. rig count increased by nine to 1,866 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 326 rigs were targeting natural gas (one more than the previous week) and 1,536 were targeting oil in the U.S. (eight more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 894or ~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 11 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 $4.56/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count increased by nine to 258 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices decreased by ~$2, trading at $102.79/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $100.00/bbl on May 29th.

A total of 241 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 13 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 15 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, De Witt, and Webb counties 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

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• Sundance Energy Acquires 11,000 Net Eagle Ford Acres for $33-Million
• Devon Banking on High Returns from Eagle Ford Investment
• Sun Resources Acquires 5,014 Net Eagle Ford Acres
• Texas Injection Wells Garner Increased Scrutiny

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.