The Eagle Ford Shale rig count stayed flat at 268 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent Eagle Ford news, research consultancy IHS Energy reports most shale plays are economic and ~80% of potential drilling in 2015 would remain strong at WTI crude oil prices as low as $70 per barrel.

Now that oil has fallen below $70, it's likely some operators will decided to cut back their drilling programs for 2015. However, in the vast majority of the Eagle Ford's liquids-rich areas, break-even oil prices are between $50 – $60 per barrel.

In the Karnes Trough, one of the best areas of the play, analysts predict it would be profitable, even if the price of oil fell into the $40s range.

Read more: IHS: U.S. Shale Growth Still Strong, Despite Lower Oil Prices

The U.S. rig count increased by decreased by 12 to 1,917 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 344 rigs were targeting natural gas (11 less than the previous week) and 1,572 were targeting oil in the U.S. (two less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 901 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 (209 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 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 stayed flat from the previous week at $4.02/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count stayed flat at 252 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices increased by nearly $10.00 from the previous week, trading at $67.48/bbl on Monday morning. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $62.50/bbl on November 28th.

A total of 251 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, seven rigs are drilling directional wells, and 10 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, Dimmit, and DeWitt each have at minimum 27 rigs running. Dimmit County has the highest rig count this week at 37. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• IHS: U.S. Shale Growth Still Strong, Despite Lower Oil Prices

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.