Eagle Ford Increases Rig Count by One

September 8, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count gained ground this week, increasing to 89 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

Baker Hughes suspended its weekly rig count data last week for Texas because Hurricane Harvey made it difficult to get accurate information.

The Eagle Ford Shale: Hammered by Harvey

A total of 944 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, four more over last two weeks. 187 rigs targeted natural gas ( an increase of seven) and 756 were targeting oil in the U.S. (decreased by three). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 455 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

10 rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $2.89/mmbtu.

79 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $47.48.

A total of 84 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells and five are vertical.

Karnes County leads activity in the region with 17 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 Shale Rig Count by County-September 8, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

The Eagle Ford Shale: Hammered by Harvey

Sanchez Reduces Spending and Drilling for 2018

Lonestar's New Eagle Ford Assets Play Significant Role in Growth

RRC Doubles Original Drilling Permits for June 2017

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: Hammered by Harvey

August 29, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale region of south Texas has been hammered hard by Tropical Storm Harvey and the impact may not be fully known for weeks.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Sits at 88

Harvey, now a tropical storm, is being touted as the most powerful storm ever to hit Texas. The torrential rainfall and power outages have affected tens of thousands of square miles across Texas, including a significant portion of the state's shale oil and gas production in the Eagle Ford Shale.

The Eagle Ford was in the direct path of the storm as it headed inland last week. Many shale producers operating in the Eagle Ford shut down operations ahead of the storm including ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, XTO Energy, Chesapeake Energy Corp., BHP Billiton, Murphy Oil and Statoil.

Analysts suggest that the storm may have cut off as much as 15% of U.S. oil supplies and halted up to $800 million a day in energy industry revenue. Lost production is being estimated at between 400,000 and 500,000 barrels a day.

The full impact of Harvey on Texas shale production may not be known for a number of weeks. Even as producers bring wells back online, the energy infrastructure that is the backbone of the industry relies on assets such as ports, refineries and pipelines that sit in some of the hardest hit areas.

“Hurricane Harvey will effect US offshore production, which is known per history, yet also will effect US shale production, primarily Eagle ford, and crude transportation (imports and exports) which is newer vs. history and lies in path of the stalled storm. Approximately 10% or 150 Mbpd of US offshore production is currently shut-in (39 platforms) and activity has likely slowed to stopped in the Eagle Ford shale, which represents ~1.4 MMbpd of production. The effect to shale could linger given the extent and catastrophic level of forecasted flooding which interferes with shale logistics and activity. ”

— Benny Wong - Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Looking Forward

By midday Tuesday, a number of producers indicated they are looking to resume operations. ConocoPhillips has brought some wells back online and EOG Resources Inc. plans to resume drilling in the Eagle Ford when it is safe.

Producers are feeling the effects of Harvey as shares dipped for many this week, according to CNBC on Monday.

EP Energy: - 7%
Carrizo Oil and Gas: - 6.5%
Wildhorse Resources: - 4%
Sanchez Energy: - 4%

Refinery shutdowns will affect oil prices, though it's still too early to assess the full impact. Prices fell on Monday more than 2.5% Monday to $46.57 a barrel.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Sits at 88

August 26, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count dropped this week to its lowest number since April, with 88 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford Shale news, Sanchez Energy achieved record production from its Comanche area in Dimmit, LaSalle and Webb Counties.

Sanchez Reduces Spending and Drilling for 2018

A total of 940 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, six less than last week. 180 rigs targeted natural gas (two less than the previous week) and 759 were targeting oil in the U.S. (four less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 456 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Nine rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $2.89/mmbtu.

79 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $47.87.

A total of 86 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells and two are vertical.

Karnes County leads activity in the region 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 Shale Rig Count by County-August 25, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

Sanchez Reduces Spending and Drilling for 2018

Lonestar's New Eagle Ford Assets Play Significant Role in Growth

RRC Doubles Original Drilling Permits for June 2017

What is the Rig Count?

Sanchez Reduces Spending and Drilling for 2018

August 21, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Sanchez Energy is making plans for 2018 that include redicing drilling activity and cutting spending by $75 million to $100 million.

Sanchez Gains Eagle Ford Assets for $2.1 Billion

Sanchez reported its second quarter results last week that included increased revenues and a net income of $46.3 million, up from $9.7 million during the first quarter of 2017.

The Company achieved record production from its Comanche area in Dimmit, LaSalle and Webb Counties. The acquisition of the Comanche assets in March was instrumental in these record production levels.

“In July 2017 we announced our intention to reduce our 2018 capital spending by approximately $75 million to $100 million, compared to our original $500 million guidance. This reduction in capital spending, together with our strong liquidity position and bank of 30 wells against our 2017-18 Catarina drilling commitment, provides us with a considerable amount of financial and operating flexibility as we look to execute our plans over the next 12 to 18 months, and drive shareholder value.”

— Tony Sanchez, III, Chief Executive Officer

Q2 Highlights

Sanchez is currently running seven gross rigs in the Eagle Ford; five in Comanche and two in Catarina. Other second quarter highligts include:

Company revenues jumped 58% over last year at this time to approximately $175.7 million
Production totaled approximately 73,341 barrels of oil equivalent per day ("Boe/d"), an increase of approximately 43% over first quarter 2017 production
Company spud 48 gross wells and completed and turned on-line 63 gross wells
$3.9 million per well
Catarina experienced a reduction of approximately 4000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2017. Earlier this year, we made the move to shift Catarina completions to our Gen 3 design, using approximately 3000 pounds per foot of profit. The 25 wells have positive early indications with respect to pressures in rates, but saw a higher water production and the subsequent decline was dramatically steeper than anything we've seen previously.

Read ore at sanchezenergycorp.com

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Flat at 89

August 19, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count remained flat this week with 89 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford Shale news, Lonestar Resources is hitting a stride for growth after its recent Eagle Ford acquisitions.

Lonestar's New Eagle Ford Assets Play Significant Role in Growth

A total of 946 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, three less than last week. 182 rigs targeted natural gas (one more than the previous week) and 763 were targeting oil in the U.S. (five less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 459 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.