Haynesville Shale - Wilcox Aquifier could be affected

The feds' could soon get involved in keeping track of underground water levels affected by drilling in the Haynesville Shale.
Ben McGee with the U.S. Geological Survey met with Caddo officials Friday morning, including commissioners and Parish Administrator Woody Wilson.
The parish may ask the U.S.G.S. to do another study on the Wilcox Aquifer and the long-term effects that gas drilling could have on water levels.
"Bottom line is, it's not hard to stress the Wilcox Aquifer," said McGee, a supervisory hydrologist with the U.S.G.S., who used 2005 study figures in his discussion with parish leaders.

The Wilcox Aquifer accounts for 25-percent of the water supply for Caddo Parish, used primarily in rural, farming areas. Also in attendance, Gary Hanson, who is director of the Red River Watershed Management Institute and Professor of Geology at LSU-Shreveport. He described the Wilcox Aquifer as slow to re-charge (re-fill). Its saving grace, compared to a 'confined' aquifer, is the fact it is a 'surface water re-charge aquifer,' replenished largely by rain water over a large surface area.

Full Article Here

USA Shale Plays - Canada Natural Gas Fields

Below is a link to all the major shale gas fields in the United States and Canada. The Haynesville Shale has most of the shale buzz, but Horn River Shale could be just as large one day!


http://www.haynesvilleshales.com/shalefields.html

Also check out:

www.bakkenshale.net
www.marcellusshales.com
www.oilshalegas.com

Haynesville Shale Mineral Rights: Louisiana Attorney General warns of mineral rights scam

Louisiana Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell is warning landowners of a scheme aimed at stealing their mineral rights.

The scam emerged amid increasing demand for drilling leases in the Haynesville Shale, a massive natural gas find made recently in northwest Louisiana and eastern Texas.

The attorney general's office said landowners should be cautious of letters in the mail that contain a check and ask them to sign documents and return them.

"If you are a mineral owner and receive a letter in the mail, with a check included, requesting that you sign a document that appears to be a mineral lease, you should be extremely cautious because you may be permanently signing away valuable mineral rights without realizing it," Caldwell said in a consumer alert.

The attorney general said the contract might contain general power of attorney provisos that would allow the holder to amend the contract even after it's signed to reflect that all mineral assets, even those already in production."

The attorney general encourages all property owners in Louisiana to seek legal advice before signing any documents relating to the sale or lease of mineral rights," the alert said.

From Legal Newsline: Reach reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/215014-louisiana-ag-warns-of-mineral-rights-scam

Haynesville Shale: ( CHK ) Chesapeake Energy - Bossier Parish

Bossier Parish Asks Questions About Shale!

The Bossier Police Jury got a chance to ask about the Haynesville Shale during its biweekly meeting Wednesday. Kevin McCotter, corporate development director for Chesapeake Energy Corp., stopped by for a brief question-and-answer session.

"Very soon, we'll see rigs in places you never thought possible," he told jurors after a presentation on Chesapeake Energy's activities in the area. The company soon will be even more active, "ramping up our operations so significantly in northwest Louisiana," he said.
Chesapeake Energy has about 550,000 acres of land under lease and about 10 rigs in the ground, McCotter said, adding the company expects 30 rigs in place in 2009 and 60 in 2010.
Chesapeake Energy representatives gave a brief PowerPoint presentation, showed a short video and even brought a basketball to illustrate how roughly one cubic foot of natural gas looks.
Jurors asked several questions, including where Chesapeake Energy will build its natural gas pipelines (several directions), how long it takes to drill down into the shale (about 50 days) and how effective the prototypes of natural gas-run cars could be (McCotter said he even is thinking about getting one).

The presentation was meant to be informative, and no formal action was taken. Bossier Parish's mineral rights will be put out to bid through the Louisiana Mineral Board in October.
The Police Jury took action on other matters Wednesday, including having a public hearing to consider adopting new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps for the parish and awarding bids for several small construction projects in the parish.

By Drew Pierson

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080821/NEWS01/808210332

Haynesville Shale - Forest Oil ( FST ) East Texas, Cotton Valley - 8/18/08

Forest Oil ( FST ) announced today that it has aquired acreage that is prospect to the Haynesville shale in East Texas.

Forest Oil announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Cordillera Texas, L.P. to acquire producing assets including approximately 118,000 gross acres (85,000 net acres) in Forest’s core Greater Buffalo Wallow and East Texas/North Louisiana Focus Areas. Forest attributes estimated proved reserves of 350 Bcfe (36% proved developed) with additional net unrisked potential of 1,200 Bcfe and approximately 1,500 additional vertical and horizontal drilling locations (1,194 unbooked locations) to the properties. The properties produced an average of approximately 34 MMcfe/d in the first half of 2008 and are focused primarily in the Granite Wash, Atoka and Morrow intervals in the Greater Buffalo Wallow Area and in the Cotton Valley and Travis Peak intervals in East Texas. The acquired acreage in East Texas also has James Lime, Haynesville/Bossier Shale and Pettet rights.

CNBC: Carl Icahn Buys Anadarko ( APC ) & Biogen ( BIIB )

CNBC is reporting that Carl Icahn increased his position in Biogen Idec ( BIIB ) and added to Anadarko Petroleum ( APC ). I'm pretty sure he also added Yahoo ( YHOO ).

Carl Icahn sold most of Time Warner holdings but has around 1.7 million shares left.

Anadarko Petroleum ( APC ) has 625,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale play as well as a position in the Haynesville shale in their East Texas area.

Haynesville Shale - Louisiana Lease Sale 2nd Highest Ever ( 93.8 million ) Caddo, Bossier, Bienville, De Soto Parish

Since the Louisiana Lease Board began keeping records back in 1969, there has only been one sale that was higher then the 93.8 million dollar sale yesterday 8-13-08. The Haynesville Shale is hot, that is all you can really say right now. The record? Year 1980 with a record 157.7 according to the LLB.

Companies have been flocking to the northwest Louisiana area in pursuit of mineral rights agreements so they may explore the Haynesville Shale for Natural Gas.

4,700 acres were sold in the following areas: Caddo, Bossier, Bienville, DeSoto and Red River.

Something tells me the Haynesville Shale is expanding rapidly. I even think the core area could be getting bigger. Heck, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy is on the record saying he believe one day down the road, the core zone area of the Haynesville shale could pay $50,000 per acre. Wow!