The Eagle Ford Shale rig count increased by two rigs from 255 to 257 running this past week. This is the last full reporting week in October and we're ending the month with an average of exactly ten less rigs than what we saw in September. The drop is likely the result of operators scaling back due to budget limitations in the fourth quarter. Watch for activity to hold steady or fall a little and then pick back up at the beginning of the year.

We discussed the depth of the Eagle Ford in an article this past week. While lithology and overall geology is never homogeneous, the changes in depth across the Eagle Ford show how dynamic the play is. Read more in the article: How Deep is the Eagle Ford?

The U.S. rig count decreased 1 rig from 1,739 to 1,738 running over the past week. A total of 376 rigs are targeting natural gas (4 more than last week) and 1,357 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 812 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 (222 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 held flat at 35 rigs running over the past week. Natural gas prices held steady during the week and were trading around $3.70/mmbtu at the end of the week.

The oil rig count increased by two rigs from 220 to 222. WTI oil prices were trading around $98/bbl to end the week. Oil prices traded above $100 for 15 weeks, but fell below that mark and ended the week at the lowest point in four months. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $94.25/bbl on Oct 25th.

A total of 227 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 18 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 12 rigs are drilling true vertical wells. Karnes, DeWitt, Gonzales, La Salle, and McMullen counties all have between 25 and 30 rigs running. See the full list of drilling by county below.

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• An Eagle Ford Rig Adds 400 Barrels of Oil Production Per Month
• How Deep Is the Eagle Ford?
• Schlumberger's HiWay Frac Design Improves Eagle Ford Well Performance
• Anadarko KNOC Tour of the Eagle Ford

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

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:

hat 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.