Eagle Ford Shale Well Map - TX RRC - May 2013

Eagle Ford Shale Well Map
Eagle Ford Shale Well Map

An updated Eagle Ford well map was published by the RRC in mid-May.

Over a 98 day period between February and May, an average of almost 8 oil wells and almost 5 gas wells came online per day. It is obvious higher gas prices have been welcomed during the first half of the year.

The number of gas wells online has grown by almost 50% in just over three months.

Between February and May:

  • 768 oil wells came online – 3,462 producing
  • 448 gas wells came online – 1,443 producing
  • 5,497 permits had been approved and were pending development
  • More than 10,402 well permits have been drilled or are pending. Permits expire after two years, so many more have have been permitted over the past five years.

Data from the RRC is always a little delayed, so the numbers reflected are not be 100% accurate. The RRC is at the mercy of companies reporting data in a timely fashion. I suspect we have well over 5,000 producing Eagle Ford wells today.

Port of Corpus Christi Has Barges Waiting To Move Eagle Ford Oil

Trafigura Terminals Eagle Ford Port in Corpus Christi
Trafigura Terminals Eagle Ford Port in Corpus Christi

The Port of Corpus Christi has gone from moving less than 10,000 b/d of crude oil in 2011 to approximately 200,000 b/d in August 2012 to almost 350,000 b/d now.

Ships are now standing in line to move Eagle Ford crude and port expansions simply won't come fast enough.

“The longest [wait] I’ve seen is about seven days,” Ray Harrison, the port’s assistant harbor master said last Friday.

There are several construction projects underway or in the works

  • A new dock that can handle two 30,000 barrel barges will be in service this month
  • A new public dock has been approved that can handle four 30,000 barrel barges
  • Two other private projects on port land are being designed to load ships with 500,000 barrel capacity
  • Trafigura Terminals is expanding and will be able to handle three medium-range tankers and two inland barges at the same time

As noted by RBN Energy, approximately 30% of the oil shipped out of the port is headed for Morgan City, almost 30% is headed for Houston, another ~10% Beaumont, and ~10% to Texas City. The rest is sent to various locations throughout Texas and Louisiana.

There have been several stories on the port in the past few days. You can read more at platts.com,rbnenergy.com, and at learn more about Trafigura's terminal at texdockrail.com

Texas Eagle Ford Shale Oil & Gas Expo July 16-17 - Press Release

American Bank Center Corpus Christi TX
American Bank Center Corpus Christi TX

Don't miss the next major Eagle Ford event in Corpus Christi. The Eagle Ford Shale Oil & Gas Expo will be held July 16-17 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi.

The event is hosted by the Texas Eagle Ford Shale Magazine and will host businesses from all across South Texas.

You can get more information about the event at our Texas Eagle Ford Shale Oil & Gas Expo page.

Eagle Ford Expo Schedule

  • July 15 - 8 AM Golf Tournament (North Shore Country Club); 8-5 Exhibitor Setup (AB Center); 6-8 pm Welcome Reception (Omni Bayfront Hotel)
  • July 16 - 10-8 Expo open, with live service & product demos (AB Center); 5-8 pm Industry & Exhibitor Reception (AB Center)
  • July 17 10-6 Expo open (AB Center); 7-9 pm Closing Reception (Omni Bayfront Hotel)

Sand Hills NGL Pipeline In Service & Moving Permian & Eagle Ford Liquids

DCP Sand Hills Pipeline Map - Eagle Ford Segment
DCP Sand Hills Pipeline Map - Eagle Ford Segment

The Sand Hills NGL Pipeline is online and taking NGLs from the Permian & Eagle Ford regions to fractionation facilities in the Gulf Coast and near Mont Belvieu.

The pipeline is 720 miles and runs from West Texas, near Midland, into South Texas on to Mont Belvieu. The pipeline will have initial capacity of 200,000 b/d and could be expanded to 350,000 b/d if needed.

“Sand Hills and Southern Hills provide a solution to the critical need for vital transportation capacity from key liquids producing regions,” said Wouter van Kempen, CEO.

DCP has a total of 1.3 bcf/d of processing capacity in the Permian and will have 1.2 bcf/d of capacity in the Eagle Ford once the Goliad Plant is completed in early 2014.

The Sand Hills in service was announced in conjunction with the in service of the Southern Hills NGL pipeline that moves liquids from the Midcontinent region to the Gulf Coast.

Read the full press release at dcpmidstream.com

Eagle Ford Shale Regional Rig Count 263 On June 21, 2013

Rod Lewis - Lewis Energy
Rod Lewis - Lewis Energy

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count grew by two rigs to 263 over the last week. Again, that is right in line with the average of 263 rigs we've seen work throughout the first six months of the year. A steady rig count is the result of relatively predictable results and operators getting closer to holding all of their acreage. We're approaching a normal operating level of development.

The U.S. rig count fell twelve rigs to 1,759 rigs running, of which 843 are running in Texas. A total of 349 rigs are targeting natural gas and 1,405 are targeting oil in the U.S.. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).

We shared our list of Eagle Ford Billionaires this week. The top three Eagle Ford earners include:

  1. Jeff Hildebrand – Net worth $5.5 billion – Estimated to have made $2.5 billion in the Eagle Ford
  2. Dan Harrison – Net worth $1.1 billion – Estimated to have made $1 billion leasing his ranch in the Eagle Ford
  3. Rod Lewis – Net worth $2.6 billion – Lewis Energy operates over $5 billion worth of Eagle Ford acreage

*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 added three rigs back to reach a total of 33 running. Natural gas traded up $0.10-.20 on the week, but is closing near $3.79/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

One less or 229 oil rigs are running in the region this week. WTI fell considerably with the broader market and was trading near $94/bbl on Friday (down from $98 last week). Eagle Ford light crude traded at $90.25/bbl on June 21st.

Karnes and McMullen counties lead development with 32 running each. 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.

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.