The Eagle Ford Shale rig count stayed flat at 263 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.
In recent news, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed a 3.2 magnitude earthquake last week, two miles southeast of Charlotte, TX in Atascosa County, which is almost entirely in the liquids-rich or oil window of the Eagle Ford Shale. Last week, 13 active rigs were running in the area.
According to the USGS, there is evidence that some central and eastern North American earthquakes have been triggered or caused by human activities that have altered the stress conditions in earth’s crust. The cause of this most recent quake is unknown; however, in the Eagle Ford Shale and other areas for oil & gas development in Texas, a link has been made between waste water disposal/injection wells and seismic activity.
Read more: Eagle Ford Earthquake - Video
The U.S. rig count increased by six to 1,931 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 338 rigs were targeting natural gas (two more than the previous week) and 1,592 were targeting oil in the U.S. (8 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 905 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 (203 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 80 and then dropped to around 40 in 2013. Natural gas prices stayed relatively flat from the previous week at $3.94/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.
The oil rig count increased by 2 to 252 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices decreased slightly from the previous week, trading at $92.34/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $88.75/bbl on Sept. 12th.
A total of 246 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, seven rigs are drilling directional wells, and ten rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, De Witt, and Webb 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:
- Sundance Seeks More Eagle Ford Acreage - Sept. 2014
- How the Eagle Ford Impacts the Price at the Pump
- Eagle Ford Earthquake - Video
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.