A new Eagle Ford Shale satellite photo from NASA shows just how many rigs are active in the area. At the time the photo was taken there were about 260 rigs drilling in the area. Eagle Ford rigs account for almost 15% of all drilling in the U.S.

The Eagle Ford accounted for more than 10% of oil production in the U.S. in April of this year. The play has grown from producing virtually nothing in 2008 to more than 800,000 b/d of oil in early 2013.

For reference, metro area populations are noted below:

• Dallas-Fort Worth - 6.5 million
• Houston - 6.1 million
• San Antonio - 2 million
• Austin/San Marcos - 1.7 million