The Eagle Ford Shale rig count dropped by a rig to 268 running over the past week.

In recent Eagle Ford news, Anadarko Petroleum has signed an agreement with Kinder Morgan and Magellan Midstream that will expand the Double Eagle Pipeline, enabling Anadarko to move more crude and condensate to the Houston Ship Channel.

Read the full article: Kinder Morgan & Magellan Expanding Eagle Ford System to Move Anadarko Crude & Condensate

The U.S. rig count dropped by 6 rigs from 1,757 to 1,751 running over the past week. A total of 372 rigs are targeting natural gas (2 less than last week) and 1,378 (4 less than last week) are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 832 or 47.5% of rigs active in the U.S. are 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 (229 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

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count decreased by one rig to 28 running this past week. At this time in 2012, there were more than 60 rigs and in 2011 there were more than 90 rigs targeting natural gas in the area. Don't be surprised if this is the bottom and we see more natural gas rigs this year. Natural gas essentially stayed level around ~$4.30/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count held steady at 240 rigs running. WTI oil prices took a slight hit as trading resumed for the new year, dropping to just under $94/bbl by the end of the week. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $89.75/bbl on Jan 6th.

A total of 230 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 21 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 17 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes, DeWitt, La Salle, and McMullen counties all have between 29 and 31 rigs running. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• B/E Aerospace Acquires LT Energy Services & Wildcat Wireline for $265 Million
• Kinder Morgan & Magellan Expanding Eagle Ford System to Move Anadarko Crude & Condensate
• Plains All American Expanding Eagle Ford Fractionation & Condensate Stabilization
• SM Energy Plans 100 Operated Eagle Ford Completions in 2014

Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Operated Rig Count By Company

SmithBits no longer reports its operated rig count, but we'll have updated number for you from a new source soon. Until then, you can reference our numbers from mid-April. There has not been a significant change in the overall rig count since this date:

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.