Eagle Ford Rigs Now Below 100

Eagle Ford Rig Counts

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count fell below 100, ending the week with 98 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford news, new data is showing the state has lost 28,300 jobs oil and gas jobs since December. 

Read more:Texas Oil & Gas Jobs Decline

The U.S. rig count fell by 14 this week, ending with 795 rigs running by midday Friday. A total of 189 rigs were targeting natural gas (six less than the previous week) and 605 were targeting oil in the U.S. (9 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)353 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. 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 below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Natural gas rigs in the Eagle Ford are at 13 this week as natural gas prices traded at $2.49/mmbtu, a $.02 increase from the previous week.

The oil rig count is at 84 and WTI oil prices ended the week at $50.18, an increase of $4.52. A total of 88 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, two are drilling directional wells, and eight are vertical rigs. Karnes County leads the region in development with 23 rigs this week. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale News

Crashes Linked to Oil & Gas Activity

New Natural Gas Processing & Pipelines for Eagle Ford

Chesapeake Cut 740 Jobs

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.

Read more at bakerhughes.com

Crashes Linked to Oil & Gas Activity

be safe. be smart.

An increase in deadly crashes in Eagle Ford counties are connected to oil and gas activity, according to new study.

Related: Eagle Ford Traffic Deaths Increase 13%

The Texas Transportation Institute released new findings this week that confirm a correlation between increased oil and gas drilling activity and vehicle crashes across the state of Texas. In the Eagle Ford Shale region, the number of rural crashes increased by 4 percent, and a 61 percent increase in rural areas involving commercial vehicles.

The study gathered and processed crash data to document locations and trends of crashes between two time periods:2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2013. Not only did they find that there were more crashes, but they were more serious.

“In the Eagle Ford Shale region, there was a 74 percent increase in the crash rate for fatal, incapacitating, and nonincapacitating injury crashes (compared to a 65 percent increase for all crashes). For fatal crashes, the increase was 75 percent.”

The study goes on to say that in the Eagle Ford, there was a strong correlation between the number of new horizontal wells and the number of rural CMV crashes.

In March, TxDOT reported that Texas oil regions saw a surge in traffic deaths in 2014 including 272 people who died  in traffic accidents in the Eagle Ford. This represented an increase of 13 percent over 2013, where 240 people were killed in the 26-county region.

Texas Oil & Gas Jobs Decline

Texas Oil & Gas Jobs Decline

Recent jobs news is not good for Texans, with new data showing the state has lost thousands of oil and gas jobs since December.

Related: Chesapeake Cuts 740 Jobs

Falling oil prices have halted job growth throughout the industry and hit Texas particularly hard.

Texas oil and gas producers have made tough decisions to survive during the worst downturn in years including cutting almost 28,300 jobs in the past six months. Just last week, Chesapeake Energy Corp announced it will be reducing its workforce by 15%, causing speculation about the viability and future of the company.

“Oil and gas employment in the state set a record high in December with 305,000 on the payroll following a rapid hiring spree by energy companies rushing to extract oil and gas from shale plays across the state, according to data compiled by petroleum economist Karr Ingham for the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.”

— FuelFix

In 2014, Texas counties topped the list for the most oil, gas and mining jobs created and lost:

1. Midland County (Midland, Texas): 3,169
2. Weld County (Greely, Colo.): 2,367
3. Williams County (Williston, N.D.): 1,807
4. Bexar County (San Antonio): 1,416
5. Frio County (Pearsall): 1,067
6. Ector County (Odessa): 1,064
7. Tarrant County (Fort Worth): 908
8. Denver County (Denver): 893
9. Lea County (Hobbs, N.M.): 785

Bottom 10 Counties: Most oil, gas and mining jobs lost in 2014:

1. Harris County (Houston): -1,115
2. Elko County (Elko, Nev.): -744
3. Collin County (McKinney, Texas): -584
4. Boone County (Charleston, W.V.): -551
5. Pinal County (Phoenix, Ariz.) -535
6. St. Martin Parish (Lafayette, La.): -459
7. Salt Lake County (Salt Lake City): -451
8. Mingo County (Williamson, W.Va.): -444
9. Contra Costa County (San Francisco): -439
10. Hopkins County (Madisonville, Ky.): -376

New Natural Gas Processing & Pipelines for Eagle Ford

$240 million joint venture for new Eagle Ford natural gas system

A new natural gas processing system is planned for the Eagle Ford as two major players announced Monday they have formed a $240 joint venture for the project.

Related: Downsizing in the Eagle Ford

The new venture will partner one of the largest independent midstream energy companies in North America, Targa Resources Partners LP, with Sanchez' exploration and production division at a cost of $240 million. The pair will be equal partners and plan to construct a new 200 million cubic feet per day cryogenic natural gas processing plant in La Salle County, Texas along with approximately 45 miles of associated pipelines.

“Improving Targa’s presence and performance in the Eagle Ford has been a focus since we completed our acquisition and entered the area earlier this year. ”

— Targa CEO, Joe Bob Perkins

The La Salle County Plant will be constructed to accommodate production from Sanchez Energy's Eagle Ford Shale acreage position in Dimmit, La Salle and Webb Counties and from other third party producers. Targa will manage construction and operations of the plant and high pressure gathering lines, and the plant is expected to begin operations in early 2017.

Sanchez confirmed last week that they will sell approximately 150 miles of midstream gathering lines and associated midstream infrastructure in the Eagle Ford in order to gain $345 million in cash. Sanchez Production Partners will acquire and operate the assets concentrated in four gathering and processing facilities.

Chesapeake Cut 740 Jobs

Chesapeake Cuts Jobs

Chesapeake Energy Corp is reducing its workforce by 15%, causing more speculation about the viability and future of the company.

Chesapeake Energy Loses $4.15 Billion | Eagle Ford Shale Play

Chesapeake, the second-largest producer of natural gas in the United States, announced last week that it will lay off 740 of its employees, most from its Oklahoma City office.

The layoffs added fuel to the rumors as analysts predict whether Chesapeake will sell or find partners for its oil and gas fields, with some suggesting that the company is ripe for a takeover.

“As you are fully aware, the current commodity price environment continues to be a challenge for our industry and Chesapeake. Over the past year, we have taken significant actions in response to the low commodity prices by reducing our costs and decreasing our capital spending.”

— Chesapeake CEO, Doug Lawler

In August,Chesapeake Energy Corp reported second quarter losses of $4.151 billion.  The company said it expects to post third-quarter charges of roughly $55.5 million related to the move.

Other issues facing the shale driller include new claims surface from mineral royalty owners who believe they were swindled by the Chesapeake.

Related: Chesapeake Continues Fight with Mineral Owners

A new lawsuit that involves over $1 billion in unpaid royalty payments was filed in Tarrant County against Chesapeake Energy, accusing the company of deliberately cheating property owners by improperly calculating the price of gas sold at the wellhead and by wrongly deducting expenses.

Chesapeake's operations in the Eagle Ford include 449,000 net acres that produces 105,000 BOE/day.