This week the Eagle Ford Shale rig count is down six rigs to 227 active drilling rigs. The number of natural gas rigs working remained flat at 106, while the oil rig count declined five rigs to 121. Zero disposal wells or injection wells are being drilled at this time. Horizontal rigs account for 201 of the 227 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. The drop from week to week is almost entirely attributable to Atascosa and Wilson counties. No other counties lost more than one rig, while Karnes, La Salle and McMullen counties each added rigs. The uncertainty in the markets and the drop in oil prices over the past couple of weeks could begin to play a factor, but being down five rigs over the past week isn't enough to make any conclusive statements. If the commodity markets stay down, expect the rig count to lag by at least a few weeks and up to three months. Often drilling contracts are in place for a certain number of wells or a specified period of time.

Over the last week, Texon Petroleum announced successful Olmos well results, while Texcom plans an Atascosa County disposal well and Greenhunter acquired rights to build a commercial water facility in Wilson County, TX.

On the corporate front, Loreto Resources announced a JV with Eagleford Energy and we had a merger announcement from ZaZa Energy and Toreador Resources.

Stay tuned each week for an update on the South Texas rig count. Better yet, Subscribe by RSS. 

Drilling Rig Count 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 SmithBits and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford Shale.

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.