Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count at 264 May 31, 2013

Tanker Truck on the Highway
Tanker Truck on the Highway

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count increased by two to 264 rigs running this past week. The Eagle Ford accounts for 15% of all rigs active in the U.S.

The U.S. rig count is up nine to 1,771 rigs running. A total of 354 rigs are targeting natural gas and 1,410 are targeting oil. The remainder are drilling services wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).

The high point of the week came this past Sunday when the Texas Legislature voted to set aside $225 million for county roads in West and South Texas. The money will be split evenly and TXDoT will administer the grant program. You can read more in the article Texas Legislature Sets Aside $225 Million For County Roads.

*Note* Now quoting Baker Hughes. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (~230 rigs). Our numbers cover a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table at the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]A total of 33 rigs are targeting natural gas. Two less than last week. It has been a wild month for natural gas. The commodity was trading at ~$4.00/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. In May, natural gas traded up, then down, back up last week, and is ending down this week.

A total of 229 oil rigs are running in the region. WTI futures were down from the past two weeks to ~$92/bbl. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $88.50/bbl on May 31st.

Karnes and La Salle counties lead development with 35 and 32 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county at the bottom of the page.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

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 and/or Smith Service Co's (Schlumberger) Smith Rig Count.