Fracking in to the Haynesville Shale in north Louisiana has proved a lucrative dig for the energy industry here for the past couple of years, and now the same process to tap into once unreachable resources could bring even more job opportunities to the state.
A Sunday Times-Picayune article reports on the progress of the Brown Dense Shale, which lies under Claiborne, Morehouse and Union parishes and also encompasses portions of Arkansas. Though leases and wells are springing up to explore the area, it won’t be known whether the successful and sometimes controversial hydraulic fracturing technique will uncover significant discoveries.
If the fracking works, however, the Brown Dense could be a better find than Haynesville because the wells may be striking both oil and natural gas. Haynesville only produces natural gas:
Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co. announced in an earnings report in July that it has leased 460,000 acres in the Brown Dense area for $150 million, or about $326 per acre. Last month, Southwestern drilled its first well in the formation in Arkansas, and the company plans to drill a well in Claiborne Parish by the end of this year.
Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Corp. confirmed in an Aug. 3 earnings call that it has secured 40,000 acres in the Brown Dense area. The company, which has also been active in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale area, has received a permit to drill a well in Morehouse Parish, Angelle said.
The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale area, which stretches from Texas through the center of Louisiana and into southwest Mississippi, has also garnered attention in recent months as a potential oil-and-gas producing region, becoming attractive as the price of oil has skyrocketed. In May, Devon said that it had accumulated 250,000 acres in the play, at about $180 apiece.
[Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott] Angelle and others in the industry say it’s too early to tell how much of the hard-to-reach oil is recoverable, though by next year, “you’ll see enough drilling activity to start giving it some confidence of how realistic the play is.”
Read more on the Brown Dale shale here.
For more on hydraulic fracturing, read "A Fix for Fracking," a ProPublica report published in The Ind on Sept. 6.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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