Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Continues to Climb

January 7, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

**Eagle Ford Operators Put Rigs Back Online**

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count continues to climb this week, with our data showing 58 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford news, Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton issued a statement criticizing the recent court decision concerning oil and gas waste disposal.

A total of 664 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, a gain of seven over last week. 135 rigs targeted natural gas (three more than the previous week) and 529 were targeting oil in the U.S. (four more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 327 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 $3.29/mmbtu.

49 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices gaining slightly to $53.99.

A total of 51 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells and seven are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 13 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 News

SM Energy Sells Eagle Ford Assets

Lucas Energy is Now Camber Energy, Inc

RRC’s Sitton Blasts EPA for Unnecessary Regulations

RRC Assesses $8,651,857 in Fines for 2106

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.

Lucas Energy is Now Camber Energy, Inc

January 5, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Effective today, Lucas Energy is now Camber Energy, Inc

Lucas Energy, Inc. has made a strategic move from its Eagle Ford roots and is marking the shift with a name change to Camber Energy.

The company says it plans to expand with the addition of shallow oil and gas reserves with longer-lived, lower-risk production profiles.

Camber has also expanded their management team, adding Thomas E. Hardisty as Senior Vice President of Land & Business Development and J. Mark Bunch as Senior Vice President of Engineering & Operations.

Recent company news:

AUGUST: company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, CATI Operating, LLC will borrow $1 million to fund drilling, completion and maintenance projects in the Eagle Ford Shale. The company will enter into a joint operating agreement with Lonestar Resources that will cover over 1,450 gross acres. Lucas will have a 8% -14% working interest in the units.
OCTOBER: company executives announced the completion of two wells in Karnes County in addition to re-activating their Griffin 1H Austin Chalk well. The first tests on the Griffin 1H is showing production of 55 boe/d after having produced 5 Boe/d prior to shut-in.
JANUARY: Camber holds more than 10,000 net acres in Gonzales, Karnes and Wilson counties and announces it will purchase approximately twenty thousand (20,000) net mineral acres in the Permian Basin.

SM Energy Sells Eagle Ford Assets

January 4, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

SM Energy Company has plans to sell some of its Eagle Ford assets in order to expand other operations.

The $800 million deal gives a subsidiary of Venado Oil and Gas, LLC ownership interest in Eagle Ford midstreams assets. Details include:

Approximately 37,500 net acres in the Eagle Ford
12.5% interest in the Springfield Gathering System
In the third quarter of 2016, these assets produced approximately 27,260 net Boe per day
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017

“We are pleased to announce the signing of this agreement as we kick off 2017. This sale supports SM’s strategy to be a premier operator of top tier assets. Our 2017 capital program will focus on our top tier oil position in the Midland Basin , consisting of approximately 87,600 net acres, and our top tier operated natural gas and NGL position in the Eagle Ford, consisting of approximately 161,500 net acres. The proceeds from this sale will provide us with additional flexibility to pursue aggressive growth from our Midland Basin assets, with related capital expenditures in excess of cash flow over the next few years, while at the same time improving our debt metrics and maintaining strong liquidity.”

— President & Chief Executive Officer Jay Ottoson

In December, Houston-based Wildhorse Resource Development Corp. launched its initial public offering with plans to focus on development in the Eagle Ford Shale. The company will move forward with its acquisition of 158,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale known as “Burleson North” from Clayton Williams Energy for $400 million. SEC documents verify that the company made a down payment of $45 million in October for the property, which produced 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day during the third quarter of 2016.

RRC’s Sitton Blasts EPA for Unnecessary Regulations

January 2, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton issued a statement criticizing the recent court decision concerning oil and gas waste disposal.

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ended the year by directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review and possibly update its regulations on oil and gas waste by March 2019.

The original lawsuit was filed by seven environmental groups who claimed that the EPA has failed to review oil and gas waste regulations and that current regulations are too weak to stop the escape of toxic materials caused by fracking.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton issued a statement this week blasting the EPA for adding unnecessary and burdensome regulations to the industry and defending the record of the Railroad Commission.

“There is no rational basis for EPA to layer additional bureaucracy on top of our regulation of oil and gas waste disposal rules. The decision by EPA to settle caters only to environmental groups and adds unnecessary, burdensome regulation to an already suffering energy industry and economy. I am confident that the incoming presidential administration will put an end to this ‘sue and settle’ approach to regulation, stop this type of political gamesmanship and base future decisions on sound science and data, as we do at the Railroad Commission.”

In July, commissioners Sitton and Porter joined officials from several energy states to voice their opposition to the EPA’s Clean Air Act. In the letter, they explaining that no additional federal regulation is needed in this area to protect the public and environment and asking EPA not to collude with environmentalists by settling the case.

Eagle Ford Rig Count Increases to 55

December 30, 2016 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by two this week, with our data showing 55 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford news, The Railroad Commission of Texas recently assessed $556,237 in fines involving 180 enforcement dockets against oil and gas operators and businesses.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Eight rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity increasing to $3.72/mmbtu.

47 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices gaining slightly to $53.72.

A total of 48 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells and seven are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 12 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 News

Sundance Energy Gains McMullen County Assets

Eagle Ford Counties Win Award for Legislative Initiatives

RRC Assesses $8,651,857 in Fines for 2106

Fear of Earthquake Threaten Texas Lease Sales