Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count 266 June 7, 2013

June 7, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Kinder Morgan Crude & Condensate Expansion into Karnes County

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count increased by two to 266 rigs running this past week. We've only seen this many rigs active in the area twice since February.

The U.S. rig count is down six to 1,765 rigs running. A total of 354 rigs are targeting natural gas and 1,406 are targeting oil. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).

News this week was dominated by Kinder Morgan. Three separate stories involved the pipeline and midstream giant. First, the company announced plans to start a $107 million expansion of its Eagle Ford Crude & Condensate Pipeline system. The expansion will add 30+ miles of pipe from DeWitt into Karnes County.

In addition, the Kinder Morgan operated Double Eagle Pipeline is now moving condensate and a natural gas header that connects to the companies Houston Central processing plant is complete:

*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]The natural gas rig count in the region went unchanged and a total of 33 rigs are targeting natural gas. Natural gas dropped on the week and was trading near $3.83/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

Three more rigs began drilling for oil and a total of 232 oil rigs are running in the region. WTI futures reversed course and were trading above $96/bbl on Friday. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $91.25/bbl on June 6th.

Karnes and La Salle counties lead development with 36 and 32 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county below.

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.

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count at 264 May 31, 2013

May 31, 2013 R.T. Dukes

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?

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count At 262 May 24, 2013

May 27, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Goodrich Petroleum Eagle Ford and Pearsall Activity Map

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count decreased by two to 262 rigs running this past week. That is right in line with the average number of rigs that has been working in 2013.

We highlighted Goodrich Petroleum's quarterly results last week and noted the company's drilling time. It takes the company ten days to drill an Eagle Ford well, 13 days spud to rig release, and 20 days spud to spud. Drilling alone was over 20 days when the company first started developing the Eagle Ford. Read the full summary at Goodrich Petroleum's Eagle Ford Drilling Time Down To Ten Days

Goodrich isn't alone. Many operators have lowered their drilling time by ~50% or more in the past two years. That has allowed larger operators to drop rigs while still drilling the same amount of wells.

*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 35 rigs are targeting natural gas. That's roughly half the number of rigs Baker Hughes had designated for targeting natural gas at the beginning of the year.

Natural gas prices were up a little to more on the week to $4.25/mmbtu. It's been a rocky May for natural gas prices. The commodity has traded up, then down, and is now back up to four and a quarter.

A total of 226 oil rigs are running in the region. WTI futures were down from the past two weeks to ~$94/bbl. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $90.75/bbl on May 22nd.

Karnes and La Salle counties lead development with 37 and 32 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county at the bottom of the page.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

Our friend Devorah Fox also contributed an article titled Defensive Driving 101Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count at 264 on May 17, 2013

May 17, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count decreased by three to 264 rigs running. That is one more rig than the average so far this year.

We spent time out at Bentek Energy's Benposium Conference this week and there were a lot of great Eagle Ford takeaways. One of those was a comparison of the company's Eagle Ford oil production forecast from two years ago to today. In short, the play is producing just as much today as the company had forecast for 2016 and is now projected to surpass 1.4 million barrels per day in 2016.

Read our highlights in the article Eagle Ford Oil Production Growing Twice As Fast - Bentek

*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 37 rigs are targeting natural gas. Six began drilling this week.

Natural gas prices were up a little to more than $4 again at $4.06/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. It has been a mild May, so having a $4 price and not a $2 price is a nice gift for natural gas producers.

A total of 227 oil rigs are running in the region. WTI futures were almost unchanged from the past two weeks at $96/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $91.50/bbl on May 16th.

Karnes and La Salle counties lead development with 39 and 34 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?

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count Is 267 May 10, 2013

May 10, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count expanded by three rigs to 267 running this past week. That is the most active rigs we've seen working the area since the end of January.

Earnings reports continued this week with Anadarko, EOG Resources, Marathon Oil, and SM Energy all providing Eagle Ford operating updates. EOG reported that 27 wells were completed in the quarter that produced oil at rates of greater than 2,500 b/d. On the other side of the coin, Marathon reported it was writing down acreage the company wouldn't develop, but still didn't disappoint with 22% Eagle Ford growth over the fourth quarter of 2012.

We also spent time out at OTC this week. If you've never been and have an engineering mindset, you should go just to see the exhibits. Almost 105,000 people attended this year. You can read more about our experience in the article - OTC Sheds Light On New Technologies

*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]Two rigs targeting natural gas were added during the week to reach 31 running.

Natural gas prices were downa little more than 10 cents on the week at $3.90/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. Prices are holding higher than many expected, but cold weather across the country is putting downward pressure on the commodity price.

A total of 236 oil rigs are running in the region or one more than last week. WTI futures were almost unchanged from last week at $95.90/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $92.50/bbl on May 10th.

Karnes and McMullen counties lead development with 33 and 32 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county at the bottom of the page.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

If you missed it last week, our friend Omar Garcia from STEER contributed an article - Ensuring The Future of South Texas

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