Counties in the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas were four of the state’s top five oil-producing counties during September, while North Texas counties were four of the top five natural gas producers, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC).

Karnes, La Salle, Gonzales and De Witt were the top four oil producers, all in the Eagle Ford Region. Andrews County in Permian Basin country came in fifth. Tarrant County in the Barnett Shale region was the top gas producer, followed by Webb County down in Eagle Ford country. Johnson, Panola and Wise counties to the north rounded out the top five gas producers.

Texas preliminary September crude oil production averaged 1.79 million b/d, up from the 1.3 million b/d preliminary average of September 2012. The preliminary crude oil production figure for September is 53.90 million bbl, up from 40.31 million bbl reported during September 2012.

Texas oil and gas wells produced 577.61 Bcf of gas based upon preliminary figures for September, up from the September 2012 preliminary gas total of 529.63 Bcf. Preliminary September total gas production averaged 19.25 Bcf/d. Production in September came from 153,161 oil wells and 91,017 gas wells.

The RRC’s estimated final production for September is 63.92 million bbl of crude oil and 573.71 Bcf of gas well gas. The RRC derives final production numbers by multiplying the preliminary totals of crude oil by a production adjustment factor of 1.1859. It multiplies preliminary gas figures by a production adjustment factor of 1.2365 for gas well gas. These totals do not include casinghead gas or condensate.

For October, operators reported 1,758 oil, 493 gas, 64 injection and three other completions compared to 1,059 oil, 257 gas, 32 injection and four other completions in October 2012. Overall, completions in October were up 66% from a year ago. Total well completions for 2013 year to date are 21,432, up nearly 76% from the 12,188 recorded during the same period in 2012.

The RRC issued 1,735 original drilling permits in October compared to 1,873 in October 2012, marking a decline of 7%. The most recent total included 1,517 permits to drill new oil and gas wells, 22 to re-enter existing wellbores, and 196 for recompletions. Permits issued in October included 547 oil, 92 gas, 1,025 oil and gas, 57 injection, three service and 11 other permits.

The Texas average rig count as of Nov. 15 was 822, representing about 49% of all active land rigs in the United States, according to the RRC.