Oil production picking up in second-largest U.S. shale field

Reuters:

NEW YORK, Jan 18 – Oil production in South Texas, home of the second largest U.S. shale field, is expected to rise as much as 4% this year, as higher prices spur more drilling and as U.S. crude exports set new records.

Output in the Eagle Ford shale field tanked in 2020, but has returned to growth with an average increase per month of about 17,000 barrels per bay (bpd) in the back half of 2022, according to U.S. government data. Its gains will help keep U.S. output rising as the Permian basin, the largest U.S. shale field, has slowed rapidly in the last year.

Output in the Eagle Ford is expected to rise between 25,000 to 40,000 barrels per day, said Alexandre Ramos-Peon, head of shale well research at Rystad Energy.

“Over the past few months, oil and gas production in South Texas have been showing new signs of life,” Housley Carr, an analyst at RBN Energy, said in a report.

The number of rigs drilling for oil in the Eagle Ford rose to 69 in the week to Jan. 13, the highest since March 2019, up from 43 a year-ago, according to the latest data from Baker Hughes.