This week the Eagle Ford Shale rig count is up from 227 to 229 active drilling rigs. The number of natural gas rigs working dropped down by 5 from 109 gas rigs drilling to 104, while the oil rig count jumped from 117 active rigs to 124. One rig is drilling a storage well in Milam County, TX. Horizontal rigs account for 206 of the 229 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. In a week full of earnings releases, we had several interesting developments. Bentek reported that Eagle Ford Shale production doubled between May and July and now tops 160,000 barrels of oil per day. EOG Resources was happy to report promising "consistency" across its 535,000 acres in South Texas. SM Energy increased its capital budget and now plans to spend over $800 million in the Eagle Ford this year. And on the opposite side of the coin, Petrohawk abandoned the Red Hawk prospect in Zavala County, TX. The stock market took a turn for the worse this week, but we should see strong Eagle Ford Shale drilling levels going forward.

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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.