Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Increases by 1 to 263

September 9, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by one to 263 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent news, new waste water disposal rules could soon impact oil and gas development in Texas.

The U.S. rig count increased by 11 to 1,925 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 340 rigs were targeting natural gas (two more than the previous week) and 1,584 were targeting oil in the U.S. (9 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 907 or ~48% of rigs active in the U.S. were 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 (202 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

The natural gas rig count increased by one to 13 rigs running by the end of last week. Average rig counts for natural gas production in 2012 were around 80 and then dropped to around 40 in 2013. Natural gas prices decreased by ~$.10 from the previous week to $4.08/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count stayed flat at 250 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices increased by more than $2 from the previous week, trading at $93.25/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $89.75/bbl on Sept. 5th.

A total of 249 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, six rigs are drilling directional wells, and eight rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, De Witt, and Webb each have at minimum 25 rigs running. Karnes County has the highest rig count this week at 33. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale 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.

Could New Waste Water Disposal Rules be Coming in Texas?

September 5, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

New waste water disposal rules could soon impact oil and gas development in Texas.

After a rash of low-magnitude earthquakes linked to injection/waste water disposal wells across the state, new rules could soon be on the table soon for industry to dispose of its drilling waste water. According to The Houston Chronicle, the proposed rules would require companies to submit more information about the seismic history of the drill site and the underground pressure the water will cause. The rules also give the Railroad Commission (RRC) more power to modify permits and requests.

Since the drilling boom began in the Eagle Ford Shale, scientists have recorded a steady up-tick in earthquakes in South Texas. Most scientific findings link injection wells, and not fracking to the earthquakes; however, injection wells are necessary to the fracking process. Fracking of just one Eagle Ford well uses approximately 4.2 million gallons of water, and the flowback or produced water needs to be disposed of in an injection well. In addition to Eagle Ford quakes, the more highly publicized North Texas' quakes, stemming from development of the Barnett Shale, have also been linked to injection wells.

Law makers in Austin on a seismic activity subcommittee heard testimony on new waste water disposal rules at the end of August. According to the Chronicle, the subcommittee will report their findings to the House Committee on Energy Resources. The committee will take comment on the proposed rules through Sept. 29th.

Pioneer CEO Confirms Condensate Exports to Europe

September 4, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

Pioneer Resources CEO Scott Sheffield confirmed this week the company has exported its second round of condensate exports - this time to Europe - during an investor webcast presentation. The first exports were to the Asian market in South Korea in July.

In June, Pioneer and Enterprise Products Partners, a midstream service provider, received permission from the U.S. Commerce Department (U.S. DoC) to export minimally processed condensate to foreign buyers. Other major operators in the Eagle Ford like BHP Billiton have also applied for permits, but have not gotten the nod from the U.S. DoC.

“I expect the commerce department to approve several more permits, primarily for condensate, in the Eagle Ford, as long as it goes through the distillation process. I am optimistic this administration or the next one will remove the export ban.”

— Scott Sheffield

he pressure to lift the oil export ban is mounting from other industry executives. This week, Shell's CEO Ben van Beurden urged Barack Obama to lift the ban during a speech he gave at Columbia University.

“Would reinforce the long term future of North American energy production, and help make the global energy system more stable.”

— Van Beurden on lifting the ban,

Under the oil export ban, refined products can be exported. Pioneer's minimally processed condensate exports are considered a refined product by the U.S. DoC.

Listen to the Pioneer Webcast

Buckeye Buys Eagle Ford Facilities - $860 Million

September 3, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

Buckeye Partners, L.P. announced this week it will acquire an 80% interest in Trafigura AG's South Texas Eagle Ford midstream assets for $860-million. The deal creates a new joint venture, whereby Trafigura will retain a 20% interest in its assets and jointly own the new company, Buckeye Texas Partners, that will own and operate the assets divested by Trafigura.

In the deal, Buckeye gains a deep-water, high volume marine terminal located on the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, a condensate splitter and LPG storage complex in Corpus Christi, and three crude oil and condensate gathering facilities in the Eagle Ford shale. All of the assets are supported by 7- to 10-year minimum volume throughput, storage and tolling agreements with Trafigura.

“We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Trafigura and to position ourselves with them in the rapidly growing Corpus Christi and Eagle Ford markets,” stated Mr. Smith. “We believe this strategic partnership will provide significant opportunities for additional infrastructure expansion to support further expected growth in these markets.”

— Buckeye CEO, Clark Smith

Buckeye Texas Partners will invest appoximately $240-million - $270-million on improvements to the system, increasing its liquid petroleum products storage capacity to 5.6-million barrels. A 50,000 barrel per day condensate splitter is currently under construction and is anticipated to be completed by mid-2015.

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Increases by 2 to 262

September 2, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by two to 262 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent news, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) reported state-wide crude oil production of 2.16-million b/d for June, 2014, at the end of August. That’s less than a 1% increase from the previous month, but 29% from the same time in 2013. Most of the state’s oil production in June came from the Eagle Ford Shale and West Texas’ Permian Basin.

The U.S. rig count increased by 18 to 1,914 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 338 rigs were targeting natural gas (eight more than the previous week) and 1,575 were targeting oil in the U.S. (11 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 900 or ~48% of rigs active in the U.S. were 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 (203 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

The natural gas rig count decreased by one to 12 rigs running by the end of last week. Average rig counts for natural gas production in 2012 were around 80 and then dropped to around 40 in 2013. Natural gas prices increased by more than $.20 from the previous week to $4.08/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count increased by three to 250 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices increased by ~$2 from the previous week, trading at $95.85/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $92.50/bbl on August 29th.

A total of 247 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, six rigs are drilling directional wells, and nine rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, De Witt, and Webb each have at minimum 25 rigs running. Karnes County has the highest rig count this week at 34. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale 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.