Eagle Ford Rig Count Breaks 90

April 22, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count is continuing its climb, with our data showing 93 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford News, Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton says his agency is working as if 'every day is Earth Day!'

A total of 857 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of 10 over than last week. 167 rigs targeted natural gas (five more than the previous week) and 688 were targeting oil in the U.S. (5 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 462 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. 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 below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Nine rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $3.10/mmbtu.

84 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices slipping to $49.62

A total of 89 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, one are drilling directional wells and three are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 19 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Rig Count by County-April 21, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

Sitton: Every Day is Earth Day

Venado Building Strong Eagle Ford Business

More Texas Pipelines Needed

New Drilling Permits Spike in Texas

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.

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count has had its ups and downs, marking the rise of the region's shale development and the decline brought on by low crude prices. The following infographic shows the rig count trends since 2011.

Sitton: Every Day is Earth Day

April 21, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Tomorrow is Earth Day, and while some might think that Texas oil and industry would be at odds with the celebration, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) works as if 'every day is Earth Day!'

Texas Railroad Commissioner, Ryan Sitton, released a message yesterday to affirm that the agency is working hard to protect the public and the environment.

“As a father, husband, private property owner and elected official, I know the health of our environment tomorrow is only as strong as our actions today. It’s important to me that at Texas’ energy regulatory agency, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), we work as if every day is Earth Day.”

— Ryan Sitton, Texas Railroad Commissioner

Regardless of the public perception, Sitton went on to say that most Republicans care deeply about our air, water and environmental quality. This is, in fact, at the core of their mission as the state's oil and gas regulatory agency. Sitton believes that energy regulation doesn't have to be in conflict with environmental protection.

RRC Protects the Environment

Following are some examples where Sitton says the RRC is protecting our environment:

A strict permitting process is in place that requires operators to provide detailed plans that include how they will prevent pollution
RRC inspectors work daily to inspect wells and pipelines to ensure they are in compliance with rules set by the RRC
The RRC enforces the rules and applies fines and other punishments when an operator is not in compliance.
The RRC also assists communities across Texas with land restoration

Earlier this year, the RRC issued a statement criticizing a recent court decision concerning oil and gas waste disposal. The statement defending the record of the RRC and said that the ruling added unnecessary and burdensome regulations to the industry.

To learn more about the Texas Railroad Commission, visit their website here.

History of Eagle Ford Rig Count: Infographic

April 18, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Download the pdf here

What is the Rig Count?

New Drilling Permits Spike in Texas

April 12, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Texas saw a spike in new drilling permits for the first quarter, according to data provided by the Texas Railroad Commission.

During the first quarter of 2017, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) reported issuing 3257 new drilling permits, more than double the number of this time last year.

During the same time, total completions for the quarter were down over 40 percent and producers discovered eight new fields.

March 2017

The RRC issued a total of 1,310 new oil and gas drilling permits for March, a huge jump from the 511 issued in March 2016. 146 of the new well permits went to producers in district one, where the Eagle Ford Shale is located. The majority of the permits went to the Permian. Other March stats include:

New oil permits: 284
New gas permits: 56
New Oil & Gas permits: 893
Total completions: 712

The Eagle Ford Shale leads Texas in natural gas production. For full year 2016, the state's regulatory agency reported total gas production at 7,969,918,341 (mcf). This figure is broken down by region to include:

Eagle Ford Shale: 5357 (MMcf)
Permian Basin: 5193 (MMcf)
Barnett Shale: 3775 (MMcf)
Haynesville : 887 (MMcf)

Venado Building Strong Eagle Ford Business

April 11, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Venado Oil and Gas Buys Eagle Ford Assets for $300 Million

Venado Oil and Gas, LLC reaches deeper into the Eagle Ford with an agreement to purchase more acres in Zavala, Frio and Dimmit counties.

Venado will purchase the Eagle Ford assets from EXCO Resources, Inc and plans the transaction to close in June 2017. During December 2016, the properties produced approximately 4,100 BOE per day (~90% oil).

Exco announced they will use the proceeds from the $300 million deal to fund drilling and development in the company's Haynesville and Bossier shale assets. Four years ago, Exco purchased this acreage from Chesapeake for more than $680 million but suspended exploration in the Eagle Ford during the pricing crash of 2015.

This purchase is the second in recent months that marks a move by Venado to build their Eagle Ford business. In March, Venado EF L.P., a subsidiary of Venado Oil & Gas, LLC, acquired approximately 37,500 net acres in the Maverick Basin/Eagle Ford area from SM, which included a 12.5% interest in the Springfield Gathering System.

“This acquisition is a great first step for our partnership with KKR and our collective strategy to build a valuable Eagle Ford business. The SM Asset is a large producing asset with attractive future drilling opportunities which aligns well with our strategy. We will now turn our focus to building a strong operated position elsewhere in the Eagle Ford.”

— Scott Garrick, CEO of Venado