Caddo gets $5.1M in monthly lease sale
By Vickie Welborn • vwelborn@gannett.com • August 15, 2009

Read Comments(2)RecommendPrint this page E-mail this article Share Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
Reddit
Newsvine
Buzz up!Twitter
The Caddo Commission added more than $5.1 million to its bank account when the state Mineral Board sold its latest round of leases to Haynesville Shale oil and natural gas operators this week.



The DeSoto Police Jury added $31,098.

All total, the board collected more than $7.3 million in bonuses, bringing the total collected for the fiscal year that began July 1 to more than $10.5 million, according to the state Natural Resources Department.

The bonus payments reflect the slow improvement in per-acre leases in the Haynesville Shale region. Payments in Caddo average slightly better than $6,000 an acre, while the acreage in DeSoto commanded $8,506.

Bonuses topped out at $30,000 an acre in Caddo a year ago and took a nosedive when the nation's economy faltered last fall.

"The lease prices the board has seen in the Haynesville Shale area in the first two months of this financial year — averaging nearly $4,800 an acre in July and more than $6,500 an acre in August — are strong compared to previous years, though not what they were during the heat of the 2008 rush," a Natural Resources news release states. "For the parishes that have been the primary interest area for the Haynesville Shale, lease price sales averaged about $532 an acre in 2007 and about $252 an acre in 2006."

The board also sold leases in Allen, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, Lafourche, Madison, Ouachita, Plaquemines, Red River, St. Charles and Terrebonne parishes. Of the 31 leases sold, 23 are in north Louisiana. Twenty of the 23 north Louisiana leases are in Caddo, DeSoto and Red River. Of that 20, 16 are in Caddo.

The Caddo Commission, which received $1 million in the July sale, set a minimum of $1,500 an acre for the bonus and 25 percent royalty.

Companies gobbling up Caddo's mineral leases include Suncoast Land Services Inc., Classic Petroleum Inc. and Merit Energy Services LLC. The leased land includes everything from water bottoms to roads and alleys in subdivisions.

The 3.6 acres owned by the DeSoto Police Jury, which got a $28.7 million bonus payment in July 2008, includes water bottoms. Matador Resources Co. topped the three bidders, with bids ranging from $7,006 to $8,508 an acre.

Six bidders each vied for two tracts of state-owned land east of Mansfield. The winning bids also drew more than $8,000 an acre.


Buck