• Current News
• Africa
• Alabama
• Alaska
• Antarctic
• Archaeology
• Arctic
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Asia
• Astronomy
• Atlantic
• Australia and Pacific
• Bakken Shale
• Barnett Shale
• California
• Canada
• Caribbean Sea
• Caves and Karst
• Central America
• China
• Coal
• Coastal Geology
• Colorado
• Contamination
• Delaware
• Diamonds
• Dimension Stone
• Dinosaurs
• Dust Storm
• Earthquakes
• Energy
• Engineering Geology
• Environment
• Europe
• Fayetteville Shale
• Floods
• Florida
• Fossils
• Gemstones
• Geologist Career
• Geology for Kids
• Geology.com
• Georgia
• Geothermal
• Glaciers
• Global Warming
• Gold
• GPS and GIS
• Great Websites
• Ground Water
• Hawaii
• Haynesville Shale
• Historical Geology
• Hurricanes and Cyclones
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Interesting
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Landslides
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maps
• Marcellus Shale
• Mars
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Metals
• Meteorology
• Meteors and Meteorites
• Mexico
• Michigan
• Minerals
• Mining
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Natural Hazards
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Oceanography
• Ohio
• Oil and Gas
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Plate Tectonics
• Politics and Geology
• Satellite Images
• Solar Power
• South America
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Space
• Subsidence
• Teaching Science
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Tornadoes
• Tsunami
• United States
• Utah
• Utica Shale
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Volcanoes
• Washington
• Water
• West Virginia
• Wildfire
• Wind Energy
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Geology News
Haynesville Shale Current Events

United States natural gas production is on a new rise after many years of steady decline. The newly tapped plays such as the Barnett, Haynesville and Marcellus have the promise of replacing a lot of oil that otherwise would have been imported.

The United States is ramping up its natural gas production thanks to newly developed gas in formations such as the Marcellus Shale, Barnett Shale and Haynesville Shale. These organic shale deposits are not unique to the United States and this article explores the gas shale situation in Europe which is just starting to take off.

The Shreveport Times has a number of questions and answers that relate to the saltwater disposal wells used to get rid of the flowback water produced during the hydrofracing of Haynesville Shale gas wells.

Lots of people are being asked to sell the minerals beneath their property or sign a contract that gives a drilling company the right to explore their property for oil and natural gas. This article explores many aspects of mineral rights, and attempts to inform the potential seller/lessor that the transactions and agreements can be very complex and that advice from an expert is a good idea.

Signing bonuses and royalty rates offered by landmen for shale property leases have increased significantly over the past two years in all parts of the country. These higher rates are in response to new drilling and well development methods which increased production rates from previously marginal or submarginal rock units. Now people who leased their Haynesville Shale properties at old rates are filing lawsuits claiming that they were not offered fair compensation.

Chesapeake Energy announced that their 11 producing wells in the Haynesville Shale are producing a total of 45 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. One of these wells is producing 14 million cubic feet per day after the first week. You can hear detailed statistics about these wells in their second quarter conference call.

International Paper reports that they sold 13,000 acres of Haynesville Shale gas rights in northwestern Louisiana for $263,000,000 - a yield of $20,230 per acre. The buyer was Chesapeake Energy Corporation. Many other property owners have reported this type of payment - plus royalty payments after production begins.

In a Plains Exploration news release regarding drilling in the Haynesville Shale they explain how 550,000 acres of leases will have 6875 horizontal wells. That is an average of one well per 80 acres. If a few acres is used per drill pad and an acre or two for transmission lines, a good percentage of land use will be temporarily devoted to natural gas.

Lots of people have leased their acreage for potential gas drilling and are curious about how much their royalties might amount to. We now have a tool to estimate gas royalty income based upon a few assumptions. You just type in your royalty rate, an assumed natural gas wellhead price, an assumed well production rate, the number of acres in the production unit and the number of production unit acres that belong to you - then push a button.

The Shreveport Times has some good questions with answers that people in Louisiana are asking about the Haynesville Shale. These questions relate to the geographic extent of the shale, leasing, royalties, attorneys, where to get information and more. Most of these questions are also relevant for Fayetteville, Marcellus, Barnett and other gas shale properties.

Most of the leasing and drilling in the United States gas shale plays have been done by smaller independent companies, but now some of the international oil companies are starting to buy in. BP just purchased $1.75 billion of unconventional shale assets from Chesapeake Energy.

More info on gas shales: Marcellus, Haynesville, Fayetteville, Barnett.

T. Boone Pickens has a plan to help America replace the use of foreign oil with domestic energy sources. His plan calls for a greater utilization of wind power and the use of domestic natural gas to replace gasoline as a motor vehicle fuel. With the many new natural gas discoveries made in the past few years the United States is in a better position to support natural gas vehicles.

Some sellers of real estate convey the surface to the buyer but reserve the mineral rights for themselves. In Louisiana if the seller reserves the mineral rights and there is no mineral development on the property for ten years, the rights then automatically transfer to the buyer.

Many people in Louisiana have become interested in the status of the mineral rights as a result of the Haynesville Shale.

This is an article about how some people are immediately signing gas leases without seeking the advice of their attorney or asking their neighbors what they have been offered. If you want to get some anonymous data about what other folks in your county have been paid you can check an online gas lease database.

More information on Marcellus Shale and Haynesville Shale.

The Haynesville Formation in northwestern Louisiana has attracted a lot of attention from gas production companies and landmen. Over 6000 property owners there have banded together to negotiate as a block for leases and royalties. They have an offer that includes a $27,200 signing bonus and a 26% royalty. (VIDEO)

Over the past few years there has been a big surge in interest in natural gas from shales. Another deep (10,000 feet) shale reservoir that is getting attention is the Jurassic Haynesville Shale of northern Louisiana.

See our Haynesville Shale Information Page