Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Increases by Two to 269
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, a rare lizard, once spread across portions of the Eagle Ford region, has largely vanished, according to the San Antonio Express News. And now the species has the potential to disrupt oil & gas development in the region, if it is designated as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFW), under the endangered species act (ESA).
Read more: Could a Lizard Disrupt Eagle Ford Development
The U.S. rig count increased by eight to 1,930 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 320 rigs were targeting natural gas (ten less than the previous week) and 1,609 were targeting oil in the U.S. (18 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 896 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 (210 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 stayed flat at 16 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 decreased by ~$.15 from the previous week to $3.86/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.
The oil rig count increased by two to 253 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices decreased by more than $5.00 from the previous week, trading at $84.72/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $82.25/bbl on Oct. 9th.
A total of 243 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, ten rigs are drilling directional wells, and 16 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, Dimmit, and McMullen each have at minimum 25 rigs running. Karnes County has the highest rig count this week at 38. 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.