The Eagle Ford Shale is a major unconventional play running in a broad arc across South Texas. Stretching roughly 400 miles long and 50 miles wide, and lying between about 4,000 and 12,000 feet deep, it produces a full spectrum of hydrocarbons — crude oil, condensate and natural gas — making it one of the most versatile shale plays in North America.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | South Texas |
| Produces | Oil, condensate & natural gas |
| Reservoir type | Unconventional shale |
| Extent | ~400 mi arc, ~50 mi wide, 4,000–12,000 ft deep |
Three hydrocarbon windows in one formation
What sets the Eagle Ford apart is that thermal maturity increases from the northwest toward the southeast. As a result, the same formation contains three distinct production windows: an oil window in the shallower, cooler north; a condensate (wet gas) window in the middle; and a dry-gas window in the deeper, hotter southeast. Operators effectively choose their product by choosing where to drill.
Because maturity rises from northwest to southeast, the Eagle Ford grades smoothly from oil to condensate to dry gas — a rare "three-in-one" characteristic among shale plays.
Scale and production
Development has been intense. Roughly 25,000 horizontal wells have been drilled across the play, and it has produced on the order of 1.23 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensate. Its proximity to Gulf Coast refining and export infrastructure gives Eagle Ford barrels a logistical advantage over more remote plays.
The Eagle Ford's flexibility — letting companies pivot between oil-rich and gas-rich acreage as prices shift — has made it a strategically important play through multiple commodity cycles.
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Frequently asked
It contains three hydrocarbon windows — oil, condensate and dry gas — within one formation, because thermal maturity increases from northwest to southeast.
The formation lies between roughly 4,000 and 12,000 feet deep, getting deeper toward the southeast where it produces drier gas.
Around 25,000 horizontal wells have been completed across the play, which has produced on the order of 1.23 million barrels per day of oil and condensate.