The Eagle Ford Shale rig count rose to 227 rigs drilling from 226 active drilling rigs in the prior week. The number of natural gas rigs working dropped two back down to 109 gas rigs drilling, while the oil rig count jumped to 117 active rigs from the previous week's 113 rigs. 1 rig is drilling an disposal well in Milam County, TX. Horizontal rigs account for 206 of the 227 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. In an operations update earlier in the week, Anadarko Petroleum released details on a well where the company drilled a horizontal lateral over 8,000 ft. We're beginning to see more laterals extend beyond the common 4,000-5,000 ft range drilled on a typical 640 acre unit. With service costs rising, we'll likely see more long laterals like the one drilled by Anadarko. Check out the news section to read more on Anadarko's Eagle Ford Shale Operations Update

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Drilling Rig Count 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 SmithBits and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford Shale.

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.