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

In recent Eagle Ford news, Canadian-based Encana Corporation has agreed to purchase 45,500 net Eagle Ford acres from Freeport-McMoRan for $3.1 billion. The acreage is located in Karnes, Wilson and Atascosa counties.

Read more: Encana Purchases Eagle Ford Assets from Freeport-McMoRan - $3.1 Billion

The U.S. rig count increased by 1 to 1,855 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 323 rigs were targeting natural gas (flat from the previous week) and 1,528 were targeting oil in the U.S. (1 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 895or ~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 one to 14 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 decreased by nearly 20 cents from last week to $4.53/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count increased by three to 255 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices increased slightly, trading at $100.03/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $96.50/bbl on May 9th.

A total of 238 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 17 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 14 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, De Witt, and McMullen counties each have at minimum 25 rigs running. Karnes 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:

• EOG Resources Boosts Eagle Ford Oil Production 62% Year Over Year
• Encana Purchases Eagle Ford Assets from Freeport-McMoRan - $3.1 Billion
• Swift Energy - PT Saka Energi Eagle Ford Joint Venture
• Halcón Resources Focused on El Halcón Area Sweet Spots

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.