The Eagle Ford Shale rig count dropped 3 rigs to 236 active drilling rigs. That's down from an Eagle Ford era record of 239 last week. The number of natural gas rigs working dropped 3 to 118, while the oil rig count remained flat at 118. Horizontal wells account for 210 of the 236 rigs drilling in the South Texas region. La Salle and Dimmitt counties were the only two to add any rigs, while Gonzales County accounted for most of the lost rigs with 5. No other county lost more than 1 rig.

Chesapeake Energy (29) is the only operator with more than 20 rigs active in the play.  12 companies have more than five active drilling units.

The week was highlighted by another international company entering the Eagle Ford - GAIL-Carrizo Announce Joint Venture. Other news included more bullish oil production forecasts from across the U.S and a third party pipeline failure in Webb County that forced Swift Energy to shut in production:

• Swift Energy - Webb County Pipeline Failure Halts Production
• Addressing Road Maintenance Is Important Early

Stay tuned each week for an update on the South Texas rig count.

Drilling Rig Count by Operator

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.

Drilling by County