Eagle Ford Rig Count Steady at 80

February 4, 2018 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count remained steady this week with 80 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent industry news, the Department of Energy plans to spend $8 million for a laboratory in the Eagle Ford that will test new solutions for unconventional oil and gas recovery.

Eagle Ford Laboratory Will Test New Drilling Solutions

A total of 946 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week. 181 rigs were targeting natural gas (-7) and 765 were targeting oil (+6) in the U.S. The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 465 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

9 rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $2.85/mmbtu.

71 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $65.45.

A total of 79 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional and one are vertical.

Karnes County leads activity in the region with 15 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count by County-February 1, 2018

Eagle Ford Shale News

Eagle Ford Laboratory Will Test New Drilling Solutions

Texas Drilling Permits Up 30% for 2017

New Pipeline System Coming to the Eagle Ford

RRC's Christian Strikes Back at 'Fake' News

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.

Eagle Ford Laboratory Will Test New Drilling Solutions

February 1, 2018 Elizabeth Alford

The Department of Energy plans to spend $8 million for a laboratory in the Eagle Ford that will test new solutions for unconventional oil and gas recovery.

Study: Oil and Gas Still Essential to Eagle Ford Shale Economy

The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station will partner with WildHorse Resource Development Corporation to develop a new field laboratory in the Eagle Ford. The company will contribute three wells for testing during the study.

Dr. Dan Hill will lead the project and will collaborate with two major U.S. universities, a DOE national laboratory and multiple industry partners. Hill is the director of TEES' Crisman Institute for Petroleum Research, Noble Chair holder and professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University.

Some of the goals of the project include:

Improving the effectiveness of shale oil production
Learning more about the hydraulic fracture systems created and the subsequent reservoir flow patterns in hydraulically fractured unconventional reservoirs
Influencing future drilling and well completion practices in shale reservoirs

“We are very excited to be working with Texas A&M and the Department of Energy to help add to the public knowledge of the Eagle Ford trend and how our natural resources can be best utilized over the life of a reservoir. We look forward to lending WRD’s expertise to the leading petroleum engineering program in the country.”

— Jay Graham, Chairman and CEO of WRD

Eagle Ford Rig Count Falls as Oil and Gas Prices Surge

January 27, 2018 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count fell again this week, ending with 80 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent industry news, oil and gas prices are continuing to rise and crude oil production set another high this week.

Crude Oil: $66.24 (+$2.87)
Natural Gas: $3.57 (+$.38)
Crude Production: 9.878 million bpd (up from 9.750 million bpd)

A total of 947 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week. 188 rigs were targeting natural gas (-1) and 759 were targeting oil (+12) in the U.S. The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 466 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

9 rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $3.57/mmbtu.

71 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $66.24.

A total of 79 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional and one are vertical.

Karnes County leads activity in the region with 16 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count by County-January 26, 2018

Eagle Ford Shale News

Texas Drilling Permits Up 30% for 2017

New Pipeline System Coming to the Eagle Ford

RRC's Christian Strikes Back at 'Fake' News

Well Completions Drop Dramatically in Texas

What is the Rig Count?

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Falls by Two

January 20, 2018 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count fell by two, closing the week with 81 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford news, the Texas Railroad Commission reported that for 2017, the agency issued thousands more oil and gas drilling permits than the previous year.

Texas Drilling Permits Up 30% for 2017

A total of 936 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week. 189 rigs were targeting natural gas (+2) and 747 were targeting oil (-5) in the U.S. The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 453 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

10 rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $3.19/mmbtu.

71 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $63.37.

A total of 80 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, zero are drilling directional and one are vertical.

Karnes County leads activity in the region with 17 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count by County-January 19, 2018

Eagle Ford Shale News

Texas Drilling Permits Up 30% for 2017

New Pipeline System Coming to the Eagle Ford

RRC's Christian Strikes Back at 'Fake' News

Well Completions Drop Dramatically in Texas

What is the Rig Count?

Texas Drilling Permits Up 30% for 2017

January 17, 2018 Elizabeth Alford

In 2017, the Texas Railroad Commission issued thousands more oil and gas drilling permits than the previous year.

Well Completions Drop Dramatically in Texas

For January-December 2017, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) issued 12,600 oil and gas permits to operators across the state, a steep increase over the 8,113 for the same time period of 2016.

For December 2017, the RRC issued 885 original drilling permits, compared to 1,009 in 2016. The breakdown includes:

792 new oil or gas wells permits
8 to re-enter plugged well bores permits
85 for re-completions of existing wells permits
175 oil, 67 gas, 586 oil or gas, 48 injection, zero service and nine other permits

The Midland area continues to lead development for December, with the RRC issuing 407 to the region. Next was the San Antonio region with 127 oil and gas permits issued.

The RRC also reports that there have been 29 new field discoveries since the beginning of the year; 15 oil and 14 natural gas.

Well completion rates dropped dramatically in 2017, with the agency reporting only 6,914 for the full year compared to 10,468 during 2016. This was the losest completiong rate since before 2008, the earliest record published by the agency.

— Texas Railroad Commission November Report