Rig Count Rising in Texas; Eagle Ford Gains Two

The rig count is on the rise in Texas as producers across the state slowly bring oil and gas drilling rigs back online.

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count gained two this week with 84 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday. 

In recent industry news, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the Texas Railroad Commission for its work to protect underground sources of drinking water.

EPA Commends Texas for Protecting Water

A total of 931 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, two more than last week. 180 rigs were targeting natural gas (+0) and 751 were targeting oil in the U.S. (+2). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)  459 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. 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 below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

8 rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $2.77/mmbtu.

76 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices slipping to $57.36.

A total of 80 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, one is drilling a directional well and three are vertical.

Karnes County leads activity in the region with 18 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count by County-December 8, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

EPA Commends Texas for Protecting Water

Eagle Ford Groundwater Contains Harmful Bacteria

Pioneer Natural Resources Gets Excellent Results in the Eagle Ford

Texas Drilling Permits up Over 60%

Oil & Gas Companies Fined $1.8 Million

EOG: Eagle Ford Remains Resilient

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.

EPA Commends Texas for Protecting Water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the Texas Railroad Commission for its work to protect underground sources of drinking water.

Methane Levels in Eagle Ford Water Insignificant

A main focus of the Texas Railroad Commission is to balance the development of natural resources in the state with protecting the environment. One of the ways the agency does this it to regulate injection wells used in oil and gas activity in order to protect the state's drinking water.

Recently, the RRC was commended for its Underground Injection Control (UIC), a federally-approved progra under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The program protects the state's drinking water by enforcing EPA-approved rules on permitting, constructing and testing underground injection wells. The program manages the following types of wells: 

• Enhanced recovery wells
• Waste disposal wells
• Wells used in brine mining
• Underground hydrocarbon storage

The EPA regularly evaluates these types of programs and recently commended the RRC program for its outstanding record.

“Among the highlights of the EPA’s evaluation, the RRC is recognized for ‘more than adequate inspection and monitoring’ of Class II injection wells (wells used in oil and gas activities) in Texas. The evaluation also shows the RRC maintains ‘an outstanding enforcement monitoring program’ for these wells. The evaluation also concludes the RRC’s testing and surveillance program for Class II injection wells ‘exceeds the minimum performance measure.’”

— RRC Press Release

The EPA also commended the RRC for making changes that address seismicity in the state. These include:

• New reporting
• New operational requirements for operators
• Newew permit application information to address seismic risk

Read more here at RRC website

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count Stalled at 82

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count has stalled oer the last three weeks, with our data showing 82 rigs were running across our coverage area by midday Friday.  

In recent industry news, researchers at UT Arlington's (UTA) CLEAR Lab are citing three new studies that show bacteria near natural gas extraction sites around Texas are dangerous and resistant to antibiotics and traditional forms of disinfection.

Eagle Ford Groundwater Contains Harmful Bacteria

A total of 929 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, eight more than last week. 180 rigs were targeting natural gas (+4) and 749 were targeting oil in the U.S. (+2). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 454 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. 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 below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

9 rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $3.06/mmbtu.

73 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices sitting at $58.36.

A total of 77 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, one is drilling a directional well and four are vertical.

Karnes County leads activity in the region with 18 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count by County-December 1, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

Eagle Ford Groundwater Contains Harmful Bacteria

Pioneer Natural Resources Gets Excellent Results in the Eagle Ford

Texas Drilling Permits up Over 60%

Oil & Gas Companies Fined $1.8 Million

EOG: Eagle Ford Remains Resilient

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.

Eagle Ford Groundwater Contains Harmful Bacteria

Groundwater near natural gas drilling sites in the Eagle Ford shale contains harmful bacteria, new research shows.

Methane Levels in Eagle Ford Water Insignificant

Researchers at UT Arlington's (UTA) CLEAR Lab are citing three new studies that show bacteria near natural gas extraction sites around Texas are dangerous and resistant to antibiotics and traditional forms of disinfection.

“Our latest published research has revealed that harmful bacteria can be quite prevalent in Texas groundwater, especially waters that contain various chemical contaminants.”

— Kevin Schug, Director at UT's CLEAR Labs

The researchers will be looking next at new treatments to remove the dangerous pathogens.

Over the summer, a study by the U.S. Geological Survey assessed the effects of oil and gas activity on water quality in several shale fields. Researchers concluded that these methane levels are not enough to significantly affect drinking water, though it might take decades to fully assess the situation. 

Read more at uta.org.

Pioneer Natural Resources Gets Excellent Results in the Eagle Ford

Pioneer Natural Resources announced the company achieved excellent results from its Eagle Ford operations for the third quarter of 2017, along with a high level of efficiency company-wide.

EOG: Eagle Ford Remains Resilient

For 2017, Pioneer has focused on a drilling program in Karnes, DeWitt and Live Oak counties that include 20 total wells. The company used this program to test longer laterals with wider spacing and higher intensity completions in the new wells. For the remainder of the year, Pioneer plans to increase its 2017 capital budget by $50 million. 

“Pioneer’s ramping up our 2017 drilling and completion program in the Eagle Ford. The plan is to complete and POP 20 wells during the year, including nine DUCs drilled about a year ago and on the 11 new wells, testing design changes expected to significantly increase recovery. The design changes include longer laterals, increased well spacing, tighter counter cluster spacing and higher proppant concentrations. The cumulative effect of the design changes are expected to yield EURs averaging 1.3 million barrels equivalent, with IRRs ranging from 30% to 40% on the new wells.”

— Kenneth H. Sheffield, Jr.-Executive Vice President of Operations/Engineering/Facilities

Third Quarter Highlights

Third-quarter production was negatively impacted by 3,500 barrels oil equivalent per day (BOEPD) due to Hurricane Harvey and unplanned downtime at a gas processing facility. Other highlights include:   

• Producing 276 thousand barrels oil equivalent per day (MBOEPD), an increase of 17 MBOEPD, or 6%, compared to Q2
• Producing 162 thousand barrels per day (MBPD) of oil, an increase of 15 MBPD, or 10%, compared to the Q2
• Reducing production costs to $6.01 per barrel oil equivalent (BOE) compared to $6.19 per BOE in Q2
• Cash on hand of $2.1 billion 

Read more at pxd.com