Eagle Ford Oil Production - March 2017
The Eagle Ford Shale will experience production increases in March for oil, but natural gas will decrease, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA).
Related: Texas Rig Count Rises, Eagle Ford Gains One
Oil production in the Eagle Ford has not risen since 2015, but that should change this quarter, according to the EIA. In its drilling productivity report, the agency expects that production for the region will rise by 14,000 bbl/d to 1.08 MMbbl/d in March.
While oil production will rise, natural gas production in the Eagle Ford will decline in March by 25 MMcf/d to almost 5.6 Bcf/d, its lowest level since November 2013. Natural gas production from the other big shale basins is projected to increase to a record high 49.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in March.
EIA also said producers drilled 760 wells and completed 668 in the biggest shale basins in January, leaving total drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) up 92 at 5,381, the most since April.
A total of 753 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, 11 more than last week. 153 rigs targeted natural gas (4 more than the previous week) and 597 were targeting oil in the U.S. (six more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 378 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.