Were they actually prepared to pay 3500 bucks an acre for a lease agreement? I have heard little discussion of this.

A local attorney, James Davis, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on ten counts.http://static.npaper-wehaa.com/pub-files/122299455048e56a76a4df5/pu..." border="0"/>

As reported in previous editions of The Inquisitor, Davis is accused of stealing a million dollars from an oil company, which had hired him to acquire mineral leases.

According to the indictment obtained by The Inquisitor, Furie Petroleum Company, LLC, out of Texas, deposited $1 million in the trust account of Jones, Odom, Davis & Politz, LLP, a law firm that Davis was a partner in. The funds were supposed to be used to acquire mineral leases in

Webster Parish and Bienville Parish for $3,500 per acre; however, Davis allegedly devised a scheme in which he provided a false sense of security to Furie Petroleum and then began disbursing money into bank accounts under Davis’s control.

According to the indictment filed Thursday, the government is seeking forfeiture of all of Davis’s property, including real estate and personal property involved or traceable to the property involved in the offense. The indictment also makes it clear that the government is going after any other property that Davis may own that could be substituted for property involved in the offense.

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Mr. Davis is no longer a member of the firm.  I was aware of the bare facts of the charge of misappropriation however until this article I had not heard the $3500 per acre offer amount.  I suspect there is little or no discussion on the topic because other than The Inquisitor no local media has covered it.  I can't imagine any company offering $3500/acre for a mineral lease in Webster Parish during the period in question.

Mr. Lawler reports on many things not mentioned in Ark-La-Tex media, especially if it is embarrassing to the parish and city officials and their contractors. Note that Mr. Davis is being tried in Tyler by the US Attorney there because Davis has relatives in the US Attorney's office in Shreveport. Certainly, Mr. Davis is not a member of the firm now, LOL.

Do you think 3500 an acre was what was given to work with and the difference between the lessors' contracts and 3500 was to be kept by Davis? Is it normally done that way by a company like Furie? What was placed in the article was sourced from filed documents so obviously, 3500 an acre was the agreement with Davis and Furie. 

Yes, and Mr. Lawler sometimes goes beyond the facts IMO .  But that's the nature of a tabloid.  I'll see what I can find out concerning the $3500 and any location information.

Thank you, I was hoping you would. If it were near both Webster and Bienville it would be too southerly for wet gas, right? Plus, the time period. What the heck was going on then? 

The only leasing of which I was aware of in Webster was for Whiting Petroleum.  The company has formed a couple of Lower Smackover units in the parish.  No one posted any information regarding lease offers in that range at the time the leasing effort was active.  A million dollars at $3500 would effectively lease less than 300 acres. You could call Furie Petroleum.  They have a website but it's just a home page with contact information.

FURIE PETROLEUM COMPANY, LLC

Limited Liability Company (Non-Louisiana)

LEAGUE CITY

Active

 

Previous Names

Business:

FURIE PETROLEUM COMPANY, LLC

Charter Number:

40026165Q

Registration Date:

10/13/2009

 

Domicile Address

 

100 ENTERPRISE AVE.

 

LEAGUE CITY, TX 77573

 

Mailing Address

 

100 ENTERPRISE AVE.

 

LEAGUE CITY, TX 77573

 

Principal Business Office

 

100 ENTERPRISE AVE

 

LEAGUE CITY, TX 77573

Registered Office in Louisiana

 

5615 CORPORATE BLVD., STE. 400B

 

BATON ROUGE, LA 70808

Principal Business Establishment in Louisiana

 

5615 CORPORATE BLVD

 

SUITE 400B

 

BATON ROUGE, LA 70808

Status

Status:

Active

Annual Report Status:

In Good Standing

Qualified:

10/13/2009

Last Report Filed:

3/6/2014

Type:

Limited Liability Company (Non-Louisiana)

 

Registered Agent(s)

 

Agent:

C T CORPORATION SYSTEM

Address 1:

5615 CORPORATE BLVD., STE. 400B

City, State, Zip:

BATON ROUGE, LA 70808

Appointment Date:

10/13/2009

 

http://www.furiepetroleum.com/        Tel: 281-957-9812

I would imagine the Furie people would want to talk about the specific target for Mr. Davis to lease as little as Mr. Politz would. I simply wanted to know if you were aware of the acreage involved and what type of deal/arrangement with Davis Furie had that would explain the 3500 bonus. Thanks again. Also, good for all landowners to be aware of this type of involvement.

Francis, I'm not suggesting that you contact Furie to ask about the details of the Davis debacle.  I wouldn't even bring it up.  I'd simply say that I heard that Furie might be interested in acquiring leases in Webster Parish and see what they say.  I'll see if I can get more detail but I think the case involves a misappropriation of funds (Furie's) and Mr. Davis speculating on leases on his own using those funds.  There was a fair amount of speculation in the first few years of the Haynesville Shale Play and a number of speculators got caught holding leases they could not assign at a profit when the bottom dropped out.  Mr. Davis may have acquired leases based on some inside information and then had the misfortune for the client behind the lease effort to pull the plug leaving him with leases for which there was no market.

Thanks. Then we really do not know when this all originated and very well could have done so in the hot times of 2007-08. Either way, interesting and possibly could have been part of that South Webster rumor about the movement that way in the summer of 2008. Seems like a generation back. 

Francis.  I'm not saying this was associated with the Haynesville Play although I guess it could be.  I'm saying it could very well be similar to what happened regarding speculative leasing in the early Haynesville.  Since the H Shale there have been many who have desired to make a buck off leasing efforts.  See the link below to a discussion from summer 2012.

http://www.gohaynesvilleshale.com/group/websterparishnetowrk/forum/...

Skip:

It turns out I know someone who was involved in the operation at the time. It was on the south end of Bistineau and was highly controversial with people in the company. Many advised against this move. It happened in 2009. I understand that the money eventually ended up funding a movie project. I think I have heard it all. Sounds like a scam from the beginning and in this case the O&G folks were victimized.   

Now that is interesting.  Thanks.

The movie project came afterward and may have been an attempt to recoup the money lost in the lease speculation.  Best I can tell Furie was not offering leases at $3500.  In 2008 Davis used Furie funds on deposit with the firm to speculate in Haynesville Shale leases with the expectation of flipping them for a profit.  Then the first HA wells were announced in that general area and were sub-par.  After that no operators were interested in buying his leases and therefore he was unable to replace the funds misappropriated.

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