Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count - August 19, 2011

August 19, 2011 Kenny DuBose

This week the Eagle Ford Shale rig count is down six rigs to 227 active drilling rigs. The number of natural gas rigs working remained flat at 106, while the oil rig count declined five rigs to 121. Zero disposal wells or injection wells are being drilled at this time. Horizontal rigs account for 201 of the 227 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. The drop from week to week is almost entirely attributable to Atascosa and Wilson counties. No other counties lost more than one rig, while Karnes, La Salle and McMullen counties each added rigs. The uncertainty in the markets and the drop in oil prices over the past couple of weeks could begin to play a factor, but being down five rigs over the past week isn't enough to make any conclusive statements. If the commodity markets stay down, expect the rig count to lag by at least a few weeks and up to three months. Often drilling contracts are in place for a certain number of wells or a specified period of time.

Over the last week, Texon Petroleum announced successful Olmos well results, while Texcom plans an Atascosa County disposal well and Greenhunter acquired rights to build a commercial water facility in Wilson County, TX.

On the corporate front, Loreto Resources announced a JV with Eagleford Energy and we had a merger announcement from ZaZa Energy and Toreador Resources.

Stay tuned each week for an update on the South Texas rig count. Better yet, Subscribe by RSS.

Drilling Rig Count 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 SmithBits and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford Shale.

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.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count - August 12, 2011

August 15, 2011 Kenny DuBose

This week the Eagle Ford Shale rig count is up four rigs to 233 active drilling rigs. The number of natural gas rigs working increased by two to 106 working, while the oil rig count jumped from 124 active rigs to 126. One rig is drilling a storage well in Milam County, TX. Horizontal rigs account for 205 of the 233 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. Even with the stock market fluctuating, activity has held strong. If the commodity markets stay down, expect the rig count to lag by at least a few weeks and up to three months. Often drilling contracts are in place for multiple wells and operators don't have the ability to slam on the brakes at a moments notice.

In another week of earnings releases, we had several companies detail well performance in targets that are secondary to the Eagle Ford. Gastar's EagleBine wells disappointed, but there were positive results in Goodrich Petroleum's Buda Lime well tests and Swift Energy's Olmos success has added a prolific secondary drilling target. Rosetta Resources announced it will test 50-acre spacing in an early attempt to establish full downspacing potential in the Eagle Ford. The Eagle Ford Job Market is hot, but it risks being cooled off by a lack of water. Concerns are being raised as South Texas experiences the second worst drought on record.

Stay tuned each week for an update on the South Texas rig count. Better yet, Subscribe by RSS.

Drilling Rig Count by County

What is the Rig Count?

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.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count - August 5, 2011

August 5, 2011 Kenny DuBose

This week the Eagle Ford Shale rig count is up from 227 to 229 active drilling rigs. The number of natural gas rigs working dropped down by 5 from 109 gas rigs drilling to 104, while the oil rig count jumped from 117 active rigs to 124. One rig is drilling a storage well in Milam County, TX. Horizontal rigs account for 206 of the 229 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. In a week full of earnings releases, we had several interesting developments. Bentek reported that Eagle Ford Shale production doubled between May and July and now tops 160,000 barrels of oil per day. EOG Resources was happy to report promising "consistency" across its 535,000 acres in South Texas. SM Energy increased its capital budget and now plans to spend over $800 million in the Eagle Ford this year. And on the opposite side of the coin, Petrohawk abandoned the Red Hawk prospect in Zavala County, TX. The stock market took a turn for the worse this week, but we should see strong Eagle Ford Shale drilling levels going forward.

Stay tuned each week for an update on the South Texas rig count. Better yet, Subscribe by RSS.

Drilling Rig Count by County

What is the Rig Count?

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.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count - July 29, 2011

July 30, 2011 Kenny DuBose

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count rose to 227 rigs drilling from 226 active drilling rigs in the prior week. The number of natural gas rigs working dropped two back down to 109 gas rigs drilling, while the oil rig count jumped to 117 active rigs from the previous week's 113 rigs. 1 rig is drilling an disposal well in Milam County, TX. Horizontal rigs account for 206 of the 227 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. In an operations update earlier in the week, Anadarko Petroleum released details on a well where the company drilled a horizontal lateral over 8,000 ft. We're beginning to see more laterals extend beyond the common 4,000-5,000 ft range drilled on a typical 640 acre unit. With service costs rising, we'll likely see more long laterals like the one drilled by Anadarko. Check out the news section to read more on Anadarko's Eagle Ford Shale Operations Update

Stay tuned each week for an update on the South Texas rig count. Better yet, Subscribe by RSS.

Drilling Rig Count by County

What is the Rig Count?

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.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count - July 22, 2011

July 22, 2011 Kenny DuBose

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count rose from 224 rigs drilling in the prior week to 226 active drilling rigs. The natural gas rig count increased from 108 to 111 rigs drilling, while the oil rig count dropped to 113 from 114 active rigs the previous week. 1 rig is drilling an injection well in La Salle County, TX. Horizontal rigs account for 205 of the 226 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. The horizontal rig count is still increasing. The natural gas drilling has actually increased alongside oil drilling. Stay tuned each week for an update on the South Texas rig count. Better yet, Subscribe by RSS.

Drilling Rig Count 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 rig count referred to in this article is for ALL drilling reported by SmithBits and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford Shale.

All land rig counts 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.