Judy was, until very recently, a normal 61-year-old great grandmother from rural Arkansas who taught English at the local middle school and spent her spare time taking care of five troublesome terriers.Full article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/17/gas.oil
Now, in a story reminiscent of the 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, she has joined a rapidly growing group of millionaires cashing in on a natural gas gold rush that is sweeping the American south.
Steve, A fellow blogger (West and Clear) and Fort Worth resident, shared some advice in the comments section that I feel is so prudent it should be featured as a post. I agree it is critical for the residents in the Haynesville Shale communities to learn from their neighbors to the west who live above the Barnett Shale, especially in the environmental impact department. CNN reported last week about the potential dangers of water contamination.
As a Fort Worth resident who lives over the Barnett Shale, I would encourage those in the Haynesville Shale to learn from our mistakes. We've made a lot of 'em
Fort Worth residents are not universally pleased with the Barnett Shale play. The problems are myriad.
First, our Mayor, Mike Moncrief, comes from a family that is legendary for its ties to the oil and gas industry. Over the past several years, he has shown himself to be more interested in protecting the interests of his friends in the industry rather than the safety and property rights of the people of Fort Worth.
The current drilling ordinance is a sham and current efforts to "improve" it are really just about smoothing over public concerns while maintaining the status quo. While suburbs like Southlake are adopting 1000-foot setback requirements to keep drilling sites away from homes and schools, Fort Worth regularly issues waivers to its 600-foot setback requirements. A waiver request from the industry has never been denied.
Second, an environmental impact study has never been conducted by the city (Fort Worth), in spite of the fact that we have some of the worst air quality in the country and the drilling process uses hundreds of trucks to transport water to drilling sites each day. Also, each of the 1,400 or so wells active in the city require around 5 million gallons of water to frack. This water comes out of the water from the Trinity River upstream from Dallas, so Big D, this is your problem, too. Even through it has only been a couple of years since a major drought when water restrictions were in full force, no one in the City of Fort Worth has stopped to consider the environmental impact.
[Editor's note: For the Haynesville Shale, from where will the water come? Caddo Lake? Are you paying attention Don Henley?]
Third, once all of that water is used to frack the wells, in needs to be disposed of. Although the industry says that it is just salt water, these companies do not disclose what other chemicals might be used. The reason? "Trade secrets." However, research from the EPA and other reputable organizations indicate that this water includes many chemicals that could present a danger to the people and environment. Although technologies exist to recycle this water, the industry prefers used disposal wells, also called injection wells, to shoot this wastewater into the ground under Fort Worth. Currently, a moratorium is in place to prevent this because the City of Fort Worth Environmental Department has serious concerns about the safety of this practice.
Finally, the most serious issue is the one that has the people of Fort Worth the most up in arms -- the issue of eminent domain. Currently, energy companies enjoy the eminent domain powers that public utilities enjoy for routing their pipelines. This means that when a gas drilling company decides they want to run a pipeline across your yard, you as a property owner have no due process. Under the current laws of the state of Texas, enforced by the Railroad Commission, you can't stop that. You can only go to court to decide how much you will receive to compensate you. And that's a good idea because their first offers are usually pennies on the dollar of actual value. For more on this, Google Billy Mitchell and Aledo and pipelines or Jerry Horton and Fort Worth and pipelines. There are things that cities can do, however. Southlake and Flower Mound have modern, state-of-the-art, pipeline guidelines. Fort Worth has nothing.
Natural gas is tremendous energy advantage that we have right here in our backyards. However, we need to produce the minerals in a way that protect the health, safety, property rights and quality of life of the people who live on top of this bounty. Right now, that isn't happening in the Barnett Shale. I urge people who live in the Marcellus, Haynesville and other shale plays across the country to learn from the mistakes of Fort Worth and ask the right questions and demand answers before signing a lease. There's no hurry. The deals from the companies only grow richer with time, and that gas isn't going anywhere. Take the time and do it right.
Chesapeake's stock price has fallen with the price of natural gas, but Cramer doesn't think that either will be down for a long time. Cramer believes the world will use more, not less, natural gas, as efforts to find alternatives to petroleum increase. Besides, natural gas is cleaner and greener than oil-based fuels.
Jennifer Houghton with Remax Executive Realty assisted a person in selling his home but tells KTAL because of the Haynesville Shale, it was not easy. Houghton says, "We had a buyer that wanted the mineral rights. We had a seller that wanted to reserve the mineral rights." So, both parties decided to compromise. Houghton says, "The seller is reserving the mineral rights for five years and the buyer will receive them after that."Posted: May 29, 2008 08:43 PM Updated: June 17, 2008 10:15 AM
Source: KSLA http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?s=8399052The boundaries of the Haynesville Shale are not exactly known., but it's believed to stretch from Sabine Parish all the way up through DeSoto, parts of Red River, Caddo, Bossier and Webster Parishes. Surveying and exploration continues, and companies aren't sharing their estimations for proprietary reasons. But they are snatching up land and mineral leases.
Here is a list of oil & gas companies currently working and drilling in the Haynesville Shale :
*Goodrich Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: GDP) Goodrich announced May 29th the acquisition of additional interests in the Cotton Valley trend, which increases its net exposure in the Haynesville Shale to approximately 30,000 net acres. The Company also announced updated Haynesville drilling activity at Bethany-Longstreet and plans for the Longwood field. They also announced the signing of a definitive purchase and sale agreement with a private party to acquire approximately 3,250 net acres in the Haynesville Shale. The Company has plans to drill two new vertical wells and re-enter another to test the Haynesville Shale at Longwood by the end of the year.
*Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is the third-largest U.S. natural gas producer in the U.S. The Oklahoma City-based company says its Haynesville Shale site in Louisiana "could potentially have a larger impact on the company" than any previous project. Chesapeake already has 300-thousand acres leased in the Haynesville Shale, with a handful of wells already drilled. The company plans to have a total of a half a million acres and 15 rigs up and running by the end of 2008.
Chesapeake and Goodrich Petroleum Corp. announced June 16th plans to enter into a joint venture to develop crude oil and natural gas prospects in northwest Louisiana. Chesapeake will pay Goodrich about $178 million for working interests in deep strata of the Bethany-Longstreet field. Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake also will pay an undisclosed amount to a third party for rights to the deep strata of the Longstreet field.
The purchases, expected to be completed by July 15, will give Goodrich and Chesapeake each a 50 percent stake in the deep strata of the two fields, located in Caddo and DeSoto parishes.
Petrohawk Energy Corp. (NYSE: HK) has entered into agreements with several private parties to acquire additional leasehold interests in the Haynesville Shale area of North Louisiana. These agreements also include rights to other formations. These additions bring Petrohawk's acreage position in the Haynesville Shale play to over 70,000 net acres, including approximately 30,000 net acres in Elm Grove field, historically the Company's largest producing property with natural gas production from the Hosston and Cotton Valley formations.
Exco Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) Oil and natural-gas producer Exco Resources Inc.'s board approved a $123 million increase in its 2008 capital budget, to $923 million. The increase includes $90 million for the more drilling in the company's Haynesville Shale position in Louisiana, $30 million for additional drilling in its Vernon Field in Louisiana, $2 million for additional Cotton Valley drilling in Texas and $1 million for information-technology initiatives, Exco said. (AP)
XTO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: XTO), announced late last year it would pour most of it's capital budget into emerging gas plays in East Texas and Louisiana, including the Haynesville shale. Their primary producing horizons in the Eastern region include the Pettit, Rodessa, Travis Peak (Hosston in La.), Cotton Valley Sand, Bossier (Gray Sand in La.), Cotton Valley Lime and the Haynesville, ranging in depth from 5,000 to 13,000 feet.
Cubic Energy, Inc. (OTCBB:QBIK) is based in Dallas and described as a "junior explorer" that recently reported positive results from three deep wells it drilled in the play. The company announced May 12th plans to drill two new wells to the Haynesville Shale in the Company's northwest Louisiana acreage. The company is evaluating and planning for some horizontal drilling in the Haynesville Shale for possibly later this summer. www.cubicenergyinc.com
GMX Resources Inc. (GMXR) The Company expects to add a sixth leased rig in early 2009 which will focus exclusively on horizontal development of the Haynesville/Bossier gas shale in the Company's operated acreage. In 2006, GMXR and its joint development partner Penn Virginia Oil and Gas, L.P ("PVOG") had drilled and completed 19 vertical test wells across its acreage completing the Haynesville/Bossier Shale in most of the wells.
Rest of the story here: http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?s=8399052Residents turn out in droves for Haynesville Shale meeting
By Ginger Ramsey / gramsey@gannett.com
Southwood High's flagline was practicing on the corridor in front of the school's office as hundreds of Southern Hills residents filtered into the auditorium for a Haynesville Shale 101 meeting June 17. The informational meeting was held after Southern Hills Home Association President Pat Spigener said, "In the past couple of weeks, I have had many requests by homeowners to know more about the recent issue of Haynesville Shale. The homeowners association has responded to your requests." SHHA members welcomed visitors and directed them to tables where they could sign in to receive additional homeowner information and an informational brochure from the mayor's office before searching for a seat. "There were well over 650 names signed in," Spigener said. Southwood High assistant principal Jeff Davis helped the audience find seats and line up against the walls as people poured in from the south parking lot before making the final assessment, which closed the meeting due to overcrowding. Those turned away were invited to attend other meetings June 19 at a nearby church and June 21 at the Convention Center. "It really was a great turnout. I didn't know there was a fairly large amount of people turned away," said Spigener.
NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Natural gas and oil producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Tuesday it entered into a joint venture with oil and gas company Plains Exploration & Production Co. to sell a part of its leasehold in natural gas deposit Haynesville Shale.
Chesapeake said Plains Exploration agreed to buy a 20 percent interest in its leasehold as of June 30 for $1.65 billion in cash. Chesapeake owned about 550,000 acres of the shale, in northwest Louisiana, as of that date. As a result of the joint venture, Plains Exploration will own 110,00 acres and Chesapeake will own the rest.
Chesapeake said it plans to keep acquiring leasehold and Plains Exploration will have the right to a 20 percent participation.
Under the joint venture, Plains Exploration has also agreed to fund 50 percent of Chesapeake's 80 percent share of drilling and completion costs for future wells over a period of several years until another $1.65 billion has been paid.
Chesapeake said the companies' current leasehold could hold unrisked unproved reserve potential of 23 trillion to 44 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent.
The company added it expects to drill at least 600 wells over the next three years.
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