Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count 255 - Play Record for Well Spuds - Oct 18, 2013

October 18, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Eagle Ford Shale rig countdecreased by 1 rig from 256 to 255 running this past week. We're in the fourth quarter of the year, so operators who have exhausted budgets are scaling back. We're 10 rigs below the average of 265 that have been running in the region this year.

Baker Hughes released third quarter well spud numbers and to no surprise the Eagle Ford is still setting records. The play saw drilling start on more than 1,100 wells during the quarter in a 14-county area. Add the other counties where there is Eagle Ford activity and that number likely stretches above 1,200 well starts. Read more in the article: Eagle Ford Record Set for Well Spuds

The U.S. rig count decreased 4 rigs from 1,743 to 1,739 running over the past week. A total of 372 rigs are targeting natural gas (3 more than last week) and 1,361 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 817 rigs are running in Texas.

Baker Hughes rig count is quoted here. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (221 rigs). 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 near the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count fell by one from 36 to 35 rigs running over the past week. Natural gas prices held steady during the week and were trading around $3.77/mmbtu on the afternoon of Oct 18th.

The oil rig count increased by one rig from 219 to 220. WTI oil prices were trading around $101/bbl on Friday afternoon. Oil prices have been above $100 for 15 weeks, but have come off almost 10% from highs near $110/bbl. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $97.25/bbl on Oct 17th.

A total of 226 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 18 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 11 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes, DeWitt, Gonzales, La Salle, and McMullen counties all have between 26-29 rigs running. See the full list of drilling by county below.

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Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Operated Rig Count By Company

SmithBits no longer reports its operated rig count, but we'll have updated number for you from a new source soon. Until then, you can reference our numbers from mid-April. There has not been a significant change in the overall rig count since this date:

tWhat 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 Record Set for Well Spuds in Q3

October 14, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Baker Hughes released its third quarter estimates for well spuds and the Eagle Ford eclipsed 1,100 wells in a single quarter for the first time. The play accounted for 1,133 or more than 10% of the 9,175 wells spud in the U.S. during the quarter.

Baker Hughes tracks the 14 core counties when evaluating the play, so actual numbers are higher. The oilfield service company tallied 233 rigs the 14 county area during the quarter compared to ~270 in the 30 county area we observed.

Did you know drilling starts on over 1,000 Eagle Ford wells per quarter?

The number of well spuds was up 4% from 1,089 in the second quarter to 1,133 in the third quarter. The average rig in the Eagle Ford drilled 4.86 wells during the third quarter or averaged a little less than 19 days drilling and moving from well to well.

The Eagle Ford and the Permian together accounted for more than one-third of all well spuds in the quarter.

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count 256 - Top Oil Producing Counties in Texas - Oct 11, 2013

October 11, 2013 R.T. Dukes

Top Oil & Gas Producing Counties in Texas

The Eagle Ford Shale rig countdecreased by 11 rigs from 267 to 256 running last week. No single county had a decline of more than 2 rigs, so the decrease was not the result of a major shift geographically.

The Texas RRC released its preliminary list of the top producing counties in the state in July and the Eagle Ford should get 1st prize. Counties in the region account for 5 of the top 10 oil producing counties in the state. Read more in the article Eagle Ford Dominates the Top Producing Counties List

The U.S. rig count decrease 123 rigs from 1,756 to 1,743 running over the past week. A total of 369 rigs are targeting natural gas (9 less than last week) and 1,367 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 822 rigs are running in Texas.

Baker Hughes rig count is quoted here. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (221 rigs). 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 near the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count fell by three from 39 to 36 rigs running over the past week. Natural gas prices rose during the week and were trading around $3.78/mmbtu on the afternoon of Oct 11th.

The oil rig count decreased by eight rigs from 227 to 219 running. WTI oil prices were trading around $102/bbl on Friday afternoon. Oil prices have been above $100 for 14 weeks now. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $99.50/bbl on Oct 10th.

A total of 28 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 17 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 11 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes and McMullen counties lead development with 30 and 28 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county below.

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Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Operated Rig Count By Company

hat is the Rig Count?

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count 267 - Shell Will Exit the Eagle Ford - Oct 4, 2013

October 7, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Eagle Ford Shale rig countdecreased by two rigs from 269 to 267 running last week. Without a major change in commodity prices, watch for the rig count to remain flat to up a bit throughout the rest of the year. Also, watch for companies to begin releasing 2014 development plans. We're hearing several companies might add rigs early in the year.

The most interesting announcement of the week was from Shell. The company plans to sell over 100,000 acres and operated production of ~30,000 boe/d gross in the play. They company stated their position simply hasn't met their criteria for size and investment returns. My bet is a smaller company can make the position work better than a super-major with competing interests around the globe. Read the full article Shell's Eagle Ford Acreage Is For Sale.

The U.S. rig count increased 12 rigs from 1,744 to 1,756 running over the past week. A total of 378 rigs are targeting natural gas (2 more than last week) and 1,372 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 830 rigs are running in Texas.

Baker Hughes rig count is quoted here. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (227 rigs). 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 near the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count increased by one from 38 to 39 rigs running over the past week. Natural gas prices were trading around $3.60/mmbtu on Oct 4th.

The oil rig count decreased by three rigs from 230 to 227 running. WTI oil prices were trading just below $103/bbl. Oil prices have been above $100 for 13 weeks now. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $100.25/bbl on Oct 4th.

A total of 232 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 22 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 13 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes and McMullen counties lead development with 31 and 30 rigs running, respectively. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

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Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Operated Rig Count By Company

What is the Rig Count?

Eagle Ford Regional Rig Count 269 - Plains & Enterprise Expanding - Sept 27, 2013

September 27, 2013 R.T. Dukes

The Eagle Ford Shale rig countdecreased by two rigs from 271 to 269 running this past week. This marks the last full week in September and the Eagle Ford region has seen an average of more than 265 rigs running each week throughout the first nine months of the year.

Eagle Ford production growth hasn't stopped and with production growth we'll get pipeline expansions. Plains All American and Enterprise Products announced plans to expand the companies' Eagle Ford JV pipeline that moves light and medium crude grades to Corpus Christi. The companies will spend $120 million to expand capacity from 350,000 b/d to 470,000 b/d. They'll also add more than 2 million barrels in storage capacity in the region. For more information, read the full article Plains & Enterprise Announce Eagle Ford JV Pipeline Expansion

The U.S. rig count increased 13 rigs from 1,761 to 1,774 running over the past week. A total of 376 rigs are targeting natural gas (10 less than last week) and 1,362 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 825 rigs are running in Texas.

Baker Hughes rig count is quoted here. Baker Hughes also releases its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties (229 rigs). 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 near the bottom of this article.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

[ic-l]The natural gas rig count fell one from 39 to 38 rigs running over the past week. Natural gas prices fell a little more than 5% during the week and futures were trading around $3.50/mmbtu on Friday afternoon. Even though prices are down over the past week, natural gas prices seem to be settling in at the $3.50-4.00 range.

The oil rig count decreased by one rig from 231 to 230 running. WTI oil prices were trading just below $103/bbl. Oil prices have been above $100 for 12 weeks nowl. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $99.50/bbl on Sept 26th.

A total of 228 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 28 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 13 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. McMullen and Karnes counties lead development with 35 and 31 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 or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts