Eagle Ford Rig Count Climbs as Total U.S. Count Passes 800

March 24, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count gained three more this week, with our data showing 83 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford News, Penn Virginia Corporation has announced they have located over 500 drilling locations in Gonzalez and Lavaca Counties.

A total of 809 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of 20 over than last week. 155 rigs targeted natural gas (two less than the previous week) and 652 were targeting oil in the U.S. (21 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 404 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

Seven rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $3.08/mmbtu.

76 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices sitting at $48.07

A total of 79 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional wells and four are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 20 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 24, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

Penn Virginia Spending 90% in the Eagle Ford

Baytex: Excited About the Eagle Ford

Sanchez Gains Eagle Ford Assets for $2.1 Billion

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

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.

RRC Issuing More Texas Drilling Permits Over Last Year

March 22, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

New data on drilling permits from the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) suggests we are one step closer to a full recovery.

The RRC reported this week that they approved 991 drilling permits for February, up from 573 in 2016.

The total breakdown included:

847: new oil or gas wells
11: re-enter plugged well bores
133: re-completions of existing well bores
258: oil
37: gas
640: oil or gas
43: injection
1: service
12: other

The Eagle Ford Shale sits within District (1) One, and was issued 133 permits in February. The following image form the RRC shows other permits issued across the state.

The oil and gas industry has taken a beating over the last two year, but there are small signs that recovery is in the air. Last month, the EIA reported it expects that production for the region will rise by 14,000 bbl/d to 1.08 MMbbl/d in March. This is a reversal of a trend since oil production in the Eagle Ford has not risen since 2015.

Rig counts across the state are also on the rise. Baker Hughes showing 396 rigs active in Texas this week, with 80 of those being in the Eagle Ford Shale.

Penn Virginia Spending 90% in the Eagle Ford

March 20, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Penn Virginia Corporation has announced plans for the Eagle Ford through 2018, including over 500 drilling locations in Gonzalez and Lavaca Counties.

Executives for Penn Virginia expressed their excitement over the company's activity in the Eagle Ford Shale during a recent earnings call. The company plans to spend $120 and $140 million in 2017 and will allocate approximately 90% of the budget on drilling and completions in the Eagle Ford.

“This is an exciting time for Penn Virginia. We restarted the Eagle Ford drilling program in November 2016 by drilling the third well on the three-well Sable pad and have since drilled seven additional wells with six wells completed. We have identified approximately 525 gross lower Eagle Ford drilling locations across our approximately 54,000 net acres of core oil-rich acreage in Gonzales and Lavaca Counties.”

— John A. Brooks, Interim Principal Executive Officer & COO

Eagle Ford Operations

Production from the company's Eagle Ford assets accounted for 90% of total production during 2016. The company is projecting it will continue to focus on its eagle Ford assets throughout 2017.

Fourth quarter production: 773 MBOE, or 8,402 BOEPD
74% from crude oil - 14% from NGLs - 12% from natural gas
Completed 24 gross wells in the lower Eagle Ford since 2016
Proved reserves increased 17% to 47.0 MMBOE at year-end 2016 compared to 40.1 MMBOE at year-end 2015
Capital expenditures for 2017 are expected to total between $120 and $140 million

Penn also gave a peak into 2018, and estimates a two-rig Eagle Ford development program with a capex of $125 to $145 million with production at 4.6 to 5.0 MMBOE.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count at 80

March 18, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

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

In recent Eagle Ford News, Sanchez announced it has closed on a $2.1 billion deal with Anadarko Petroleum for 65,000 acres in the Western Eagle Ford Shale.

A total of 789 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of 21 over than last week. 157 rigs targeted natural gas (six more than the previous week) and 631 were targeting oil in the U.S. (14 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 396 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.