The Eagle Ford Shale rig count stayed flat at 269 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent Eagle Ford news, India’s Reliance Industries is looking for a buyer for its interest in a three-way joint Eagle Ford joint venture, according to Bloomberg, which cited “people familiar with the matter.” The other players in the JV are Irving, Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and a division of Mexico’s Alfa SAB de CV – Newpek, LLC.

Read more: Reliance Industries Seeks Buyer for Eagle Ford JV Interest

The U.S. rig count decreased by 12 to 1,918 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 328 rigs were targeting natural gas (eight more than the previous week) and 1,590 were targeting oil in the U.S. (19 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 898 or ~48% of rigs active in the U.S. were 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 (209 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

The natural gas rig count increased by three to 19 rigs running by the end of last week. Average rig counts for natural gas production in 2012 were around 80 and then dropped to around 40 in 2013. Natural gas prices decreased by ~$.10 from the previous week to $3.77/mmbtu on Friday afternoon.

The oil rig count decreased by three to 250 rigs running by the end of last week. WTI oil prices decreased by less than $1.00 from the previous week, trading at $83.15/bbl on Friday afternoon. Eagle Ford light crude traded at $79.25/bbl on Oct. 16th.

A total of 242 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, 12 rigs are drilling directional wells, and 15 rigs are drilling vertical wells. Karnes, La Salle, Dimmit, and McMullen each have at minimum 26 rigs running. Karnes County has the highest rig count this week at 36. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below

South Texas Oil & Gas News:

• Reliance Industries Seeks Buyer for Eagle Ford JV Interest
• Eagle Ford Shale Expected to Hit 1.614-Million b/d in Nov. 2014

Be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling 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 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.