Baker Hughes released its third quarter estimates for well spuds and the Eagle Ford eclipsed 1,100 wells in a single quarter for the first time. The play accounted for 1,133 or more than 10% of the 9,175 wells spud in the U.S. during the quarter.

Baker Hughes tracks the 14 core counties when evaluating the play, so actual numbers are higher. The oilfield service company tallied 233 rigs the 14 county area during the quarter compared to ~270 in the 30 county area we observed.

Did you know drilling starts on over 1,000 Eagle Ford wells per quarter?

The number of well spuds was up 4% from 1,089 in the second quarter to 1,133 in the third quarter. The average rig in the Eagle Ford drilled 4.86 wells during the third quarter or averaged a little less than 19 days drilling and moving from well to well.

The Eagle Ford and the Permian together accounted for more than one-third of all well spuds in the quarter.