Crude oil production from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas was up by 74% in February compared with a year ago, reaching an all-time high of 471,258 b/d from the nine fields that comprise the majority of the play, according preliminary data from the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC).

The year-ago production figure for the fields is 271,521 b/d. Revisions to RRC production figures typically are increases, so crude production from the Eagle Ford likely will turn out to have been even higher last February.

Eagle Ford activity is making its presence felt in in South Texas towns like the city of Von Ormy, which is southwest of San Antonio. Sales tax revenue there is up 60% compared with a year ago, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. Credited for the increase is increased traffic on Interstate 35 going to and from the Eagle Ford as travelers have been patronizing area business along the way.

The Eagle Ford Shale remains the most active play covered by NGI’s Shale Daily Unconventional Rig Count. As of April 19, there were 226 rigs drilling in the Eagle Ford, which is up 3% from the 219 rigs in operation the previous week but down 13% from the 260 rigs in operation in the play one year ago.

Overall in February, Texas crude oil production totaled 43.69 million bbl, an increase from 41.53 million bbl in February 2012 but a sequential decline from January 2013 production of nearly 49.05 million bbl. Last year, Texas produced nearly 556.91 million bbl, an increase from the 2011 total of nearly 443.75 million bbl.

Texas natural gas production declined in February from a year ago and sequentially. February gas production totaled 504.38 Bcf, down from 622.26 Bcf in February 2012 and from 576.60 Bcf in January 2013.

Gas well gas was off substantially from a year ago at about 405 Bcf, compared to 529 Bcf in February 2012 and down sequentially from 466 in January. While casinghead gas at about 98 Bcf also declined sequentially from 109 Bcf, it increased from 92 Bcf a year ago February to 98 Bcf in February 2013.

While casinghead gas production is a fraction of overall Texas gas volumes, its numbers have been inching up with the increase in the state’s oil production, primarily in the Eagle Ford Shale. At the same time, gas well volumes are declining. Texas produced nearly 7.52 Tcf in 2012, a decline from the 2011 total of more than 7.90 Tcf. Casinghead production increased from 1 Tcf to 1.3 Tcf from 2011 to 2012 while gas well gas declined from 6.9 Tcf to 6.2 Tcf.