The Eagle Ford Shale rig count stayed flat at 267 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent Eagle Ford news, Sanchez Energy increased its’ portfolio-wide production by 376% to 18,784 boe/d in the first-quarter of 2014 over the first-quarter of 2013. The oil cut from this year’s first-quarter production was 72%, with 15% NGLs and 13% natural gas. Production remained relatively flat quarter-over-quarter.

Read more: Sanchez Energy's First-Quarter Production Up 376% Over Last Year

The U.S. rig count decreased by 7 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 323 rigs were targeting natural gas (flat from the previous week) and 1,527 were targeting oil in the U.S. (7 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 892or ~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 15 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 last week at $4.71/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count increased by one to 252 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices decreased slightly, trading at $99.65/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $96.25/bbl on May 2nd.

A total of 234 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 19 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 14 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, De Witt, McMullen and Webb 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:

• Sanchez Energy's First-Quarter Production Up 376% Over Last Year
• SM Energy-Mitsui Eagle Ford Joint Venture Will End in Second Quarter of 2014
• Newfield Energy's Eagle Ford First Quarter Production and Operations Update
• Aurora Oil & Gas's Production Increases in the First Quarter of 2014

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.