Eagle Ford Rig Count Drops; U.S. Gains 12

March 11, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

After many weeks of gains, the Eagle Ford Shale rig count fell back this week, 78 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford News, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) announced that oil and gas production for the state of Texas is at its lowest levels in years.

A total of 768 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of 12 over than last week. 151 rigs targeted natural gas (five more than the previous week) and 617 were targeting oil in the U.S. (eight more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 392 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

Five rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $3.01/mmbtu.

73 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices fell to $48.49

A total of 74 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells and four 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-March 10, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

Oil & Gas Production in Texas Decreases for First Time since 2010

EOG Still Seeing Potential in the Eagle Ford

Eagle Ford Leads Texas in Gas Production

Noble Energy 'Rapidly Accelerating' 2017 Development

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.

Oil & Gas Production in Texas Decreases for First Time since 2010

March 8, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Oil and gas production for the state of Texas is at its lowest levels in years, according to preliminary data from the Texas Railroad Commission.

Sanchez Gains Eagle Ford Assets for $2.1 Billion

March 7, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Sanchez Energy Corporation has completed the purchase of 318,00 acres in the Eagle Ford.

Sanchez announced last week it closed on a $2.1 billion deal with Anadarko Petroleum through a 50/50 partnership with Blackstone Energy Partners.

The 'Comanche Transaction' is expected to increase Sanchez' total net proved reserves to approximately 340 MMBoe, a 78% increase from year-end 2016 reserves. The company plans to focus initially on completing the 132 gross drilled but uncompleted wells currently in the acreage.

“With the closing of the Comanche Transaction, the Company’s operated Eagle Ford position is now approximately 585,000 gross acres (335,000 net to Sanchez Energy). The contiguous nature of the acquired acreage relative to our Catarina asset creates an opportunity for significant operational and cost synergies.”

— Tony Sanchez, III, Chief Executive Officer

Full Year Highlights

Acquisition of 65,000 acres in the oil window of the Western Eagle Ford, and 45,000 acres in the dry gas window of the Western Eagle Ford
Total 2016 production of 19.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (“MMBoe”)
Drilling and completion costs during 2016 at Catarina and Maverick averaged approximately$3.0 million per well
Full year 2016 revenues were approximately $431 million

In December, Sanchez closed on two deals involving Eagle Ford assets valued at over $600 million. These transactions are expected to add an average of 700 Boe/d of production in 2017. Sanchez Production Partners acquired a 50% interest in Carnero Processing, LLC from Sanchez Energy Corporation for $80 million including. Carnero Processing is currently constructing a cryogenic natural gas processing plant in La Salle County.

Eagle Ford Rig Count Hits 80

March 5, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count jumped six this week, with our data showing 80 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford News, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) released its preliminary full year production numbers for 2016, showing the Eagle Ford Shale the biggest producer of natural gas in Texas. .

A total of 756 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of one over than last week. 146 rigs targeted natural gas (five less than the previous week) and 609 were targeting oil in the U.S. (seven more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 392 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Five rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $2.83/mmbtu.

75 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices increasing slightly to $53.33

A total of 74 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, two are drilling directional wells and four are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week 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 Rig Count by County-March 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

EOG Still Seeing Potential in the Eagle Ford

Eagle Ford Leads Texas in Gas Production

Noble Energy 'Rapidly Accelerating' 2017 Development

RRC Prepares for More Oil and Gas Drilling

Pioneer Will Resume Eagle Ford Drilling

What is the Rig Count?

EOG Still Seeing Potential in the Eagle Ford

March 1, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

EOG Resources credits its Eagle Ford activity as a major factor for expected 18% oil growth during 2017.

EOG released forth quarter and full 2016 results this week, along with spending predictions for the rest of 2017.

The company expects that capital expenditures for 2017 will range from $3.7 to $4.1, with 81% dedicated to exploration and development. Continued growth is predicted from EOG's major basins including the Eagle Ford Shale.

Eagle Ford Operations

EOG achieved strong results in the Eagle Ford during 2016 and executives say the region still holds lots of potential. The company characterized the region as their large 'laboratory' that they are using to experiment with new technological innovations.

Eagle Ford highlights include:

Completed 75 wells in the Eagle Ford with an average treated lateral length of 5,700 feet per well
Initial production rates per well of 1,190 Boed, or 990 Bopd, 85 Bpd of NGLs and 0.7 MMcfd of natural gas
Crude oil production declined 8% year-over-year due to 28% reduction in well completions
Production is expected to grow during 2017
Will average 7 rig operating in 2017
Lowering well costs due to innovations

“The Eagle Ford has seen consistent year-over-year improvements in both production performance and operational efficiencies that have been the hallmark of EOG’s advancements in horizontal technology. We continue to test multiple targets and spacing patterns to determine the optimal development pattern for each area of the field. The wells completed in 2016 as a group are outperforming wells from previous years, largely as a result of the precision targeting and advanced completion designs.”

— Lloyd W. Helms, Jr., Executive VP of Exploration & Production

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