Carrizo Invests Heavily in the Eagle Ford Shale Play

May 14, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Carrizo Oil and Gas reported an outstanding first quarter, which included heavy investment in the Eagle Ford.

Speaking during a quarterly earnings call, Carrizo executives announced that currently 85% of the company's drilling and completion capital expenditures are allocated to the Eagle Ford Shale Play.

In the eagle Ford, Carrizo is producing from approximately 514 gross or 431 net wells, with three drilling rigs running and two 24/7 frac crews.

“We continue to conduct multiples tests aimed at enhancing the value of our Eagle Ford Shale asset. We currently have five stagger-stack pilots underway across our acreage and expect to test additional pilots later this year. We also plan to drill our initial infill well on the properties we recently acquired from Sanchez. We also continue to test different completion techniques in order to enhance our well performance, including varying fluid type, proppant concentration, and stage spacing. ”

— S.P. Johnson, CEO

Eagle Ford Highlights for Q1

Drilled 24 gross (20.1 net) operated wells
Completed 29 gross (28.7 net) wells
Crude oil production was more than 25,500 Bbls/d, up 2% versus the prior quarter
At the end of the quarter, Carrizo had 29 gross (23.9 net) operated Eagle Ford wells in progress or waiting on completion, equating to net crude oil production potential of approximately 9,000 Bbls/d
Currently operating three rigs
Lowered the estimate for a type curve well in the Eagle Ford by $100,000
Projects to drill approximately 106 gross (91 net) operated wells and complete 94 gross (85 net) operated wells during 2017

Other Eagle Ford operators have reported strong first quarter results for the Eagle Ford:

Baytex Breaks-Even at $30 a Barrel in the Eagle Ford

Cabot Getting Good Returns in the Eagle Ford

NuStar Sees Positive Turn in Eagle Ford

Venado Building Strong Eagle Ford Business

Penn Virginia Spending 90% in the Eagle Ford

Read the full Carrizo transript here.

Eagle Ford Rig Count Stalls at 99

May 13, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

After weeks of steady increases, the Eagle Ford Shale rig count has stalled at 99 for three weeks in a row.

In recent Eagle Ford News, Baytex Energy announced strong first quarter results for its Eagle Ford assets, including increased performance and a break-even point at $30 per barrel of WTI.

A total of 885 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of eight over last week. 172 rigs targeted natural gas (one less than the previous week) and 712 were targeting oil in the U.S. (nine more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 451 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

Eight rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading increasing to $3.42/mmbtu.

91 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $47.84

A total of 94 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, two are drilling directional wells and three are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 23 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-May 12, 2017 — Eagle Ford Rig Count by County-May 12, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

Baytex Breaks-Even at $30 a Barrel in the Eagle Ford

Cabot Getting Good Returns in the Eagle Ford

NuStar Sees Positive Turn in Eagle Ford

Sitton: Every Day is Earth Day

Venado Building Strong Eagle Ford Business

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.

Baytex Breaks-Even at $30 a Barrel in the Eagle Ford

May 8, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Baytex Energy announced strong first quarter results for its Eagle Ford assets, including increased performance and a break-even point at $30 per barrel of WTI.

For 2017, Baytex Energy is focusing ~ 70% of its budgeted E&D spending on the Eagle Ford Shale Play. The Calgary-based company reports they expect the development window in the region is in excess of 10 years at the current pace.

First Quarter 2017: Eagle Ford

Throughout the quarter, Baytex saw strong growth and reduced costs for its Eagle Ford assets. Quarterly highlights include:

Production increased 8% to 36,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day
Increased pace of development to five drilling rigs and two completion crews
Integrated the Peace River acquisition which closed on January 20, 2017
Participated in the drilling of 36 (8.4 net) wells and commenced production from 33 (9.4 net) wells
Break even price in the region is at $30 a barrel
Record low well costs of approximatelyUS$4.5 million, down 20% from Q1/2016.

“Our pace of development in the Eagle Ford is expected to remain stable throughout 2017 with 4-5 drilling rigs and 2 completion crews working on our lands. At this pace, we expect to bring approximately 34 net wells on production in 2017. ”

— Baytex Energy Press Release

Improved Performance and Efficiency

The following chart shows Baytex' increased performance and efficiency over the years. Improvements in drilling and completion design have increased 30-day IP rates by approximately 105% since Q4/2011 with 180-day cumulative recovery increasing 63% over the same time period. Drilling times have decreased by 63% since Q4/2011 resulting in reduced completed well costs.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Trying to Break 100

May 6, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count was unchanged this week, with data showing 99 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford News, Cabot Oil and Gas reports strong results from their Eagle Ford assets during the first quarter of the year, boasting good returns and reduced costs.

A total of 877 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of seven over than last week. 173 rigs targeted natural gas (two more than the previous week) and 703 were targeting oil in the U.S. (six more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 443 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Eight rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $3.27/mmbtu.

91 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices dipping to $46.22

A total of 94 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, two are drilling directional wells and three are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 23 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-May 5, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

Cabot Getting Good Returns in the Eagle Ford

NuStar Sees Positive Turn in Eagle Ford

Sitton: Every Day is Earth Day

Venado Building Strong Eagle Ford Business

What is the 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.Eagle Ford Rig Count

Natural Gas Production Plummets in Eagle Ford Shale County

May 3, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Webb County was edged out as the leading Texas producer of natural gas when production plunged in February.

Webb County has ruled the state for years in natural gas production, boasting the highest numbers compared to other Texas counties by the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC)

In February that all changed, with the RRC reporting the county had a steep drop in production and Tarrant County moved into the top spot.

Webb county started the year strong averaging 60, 760, 884 mmcf of natural gas in January. Production for the Eagle Ford county dropped by more than 40% in February, with the county averaging 35,705, 945 mmcf. Tarrant County pulled ahead with 37,096,698 mmcf.

In 2016, the Eagle Ford Shale led Texas in natural gas production, according to the RRC. 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)

Texas oil production in February slipped in most counties, but Eagle-Ford's Karnes County is gaining ground. Production increased in Karnes from 5,603,618 bbls in January to 5,677,096 in February.