Oil & Gas Pro

USGS drops new numbers on natural gas found in Bossier formation. It's years worth.

USGS drops new numbers on natural gas found in Bossier formation. It's years worth.

BY LIZ SWAINE | Staff writer  5/7/2026

The U.S. Geological Survey has released numbers that even some of their staff members refer to as “sizable” - a 10-year quantity of natural gas trapped in rock under northwest Louisiana and east Texas. 

In January, USGS issued an estimate of 47.9 trillion cubic feet of gas they believe could be present in the Gulf Coast Haynesville formation.

On Wednesday, it was the Bossier formation’s turn: 343.5 trillion cubic feet of “undiscovered, technically recoverable” but perhaps not economically viable gas believed to be in the Bossier formation through to the Western Haynesville, an area that generally comprises Leon, Freestone, Limestone, and Robertson counties in east Texas.

“It’s just the way it came out,” said USGS geologist Chris Schenk of the estimate. “We put our input in and see what happens.”

That input came up with a number that USGS estimates is enough “to supply the United States for more than 10 years at the current rate of consumption.” It can also be drilled using the technology we have now, Schenk told The Shreveport Bossier City Advocate.

And now some Geology 101

The Bossier and Haynesville geologic formations are deep and old, formed at least 145 million years ago in the Jurassic period.

Between the formations and the earth’s surface is two miles of hard stuff: sandstone, limestone and shale.

The Haynesville formation is older and usually deeper, from 10,000 to 17,000 feet below the surface. The Bossier is generally 500-800 feet shallower than the Haynesville, and younger.

But all is not so straightforward. The Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees drilling in the Lone Star state, warns that because Texas and Louisiana name things differently, “It is generally recognized that the shale interval in East Texas is the Lower Bossier that correlates with the Haynesville of Louisiana.” In other words, same thing, different name.

The Western Haynesville’s riches

The Western Haynesville is a relatively small area in east Texas that has been found to be rich with productive, over-pressured shales.

The USGS has noticed, writing in their report: “Production from the few wells drilled in this AU (Assessment Unit) shows that estimated ultimate recoveries are substantially higher than those of typical shales of the Bossier Formation.”

Shreveport mineral consultant Skip Peel said the few gas companies working the Western Haynesville have found that to be true and have been putting pedal to metal.

“The Western Haynesville is 5 years old. The first two years of that was Comstock and Aethon leasing land and drilling just a few test wells. The last three years has been particularly Comstock in full development mode, building pipelines, building all kinds of infrastructure, treating facilities, whatnot, because they've decided that that's their future.”

Peel said in the legacy Haynesville, an area that is roughly the parts of northwest Louisiana and east Texas that are not considered the Western Haynesville, companies have been drilling both Haynesville and Bossier-depth wells for some time.

“The USGS report will bring more attention, public attention, investor attention, to the Western Haynesville. And so that's good for Comstock, and Aethon was the company that was also kind of the secondary operator in the Western Haynesville.”

“That’s one of the reasons why Mitsubishi Corporation bought them (Aethon) is because of their footprint in the Western Haynesville."

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Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on May 18, 2026 at 1:56

Mineral companies are funded by investors.  Investors currently are balancing their portfolios with natural gas after focusing on oil and the Permian Basin for the last twenty years that I have been following the market.  The Permian is where they go for oil and the Haynesville, not the Western Haynesville, is where they go for natural gas.  It is worth noting that those Permian oil wells also produce natural gas but the problem is pipeline capacity to take that gas to market.  If you follow the Permian WAHA Hub gas price you have seen the price turn negative multiple times.  That means oil companies are paying for pipeline operators to take their gas.  They are losing money on that gas in order to keep producing oil.  The Western Haynesville has limited pipeline capacity and it will be years before enough is built to rival the Haynesville where midstream companies have been on a building spree for years to accommodate LNG export.  That is my take on the basin dynamics.

Here is my take on individual mineral rights ownership and global demand for natural gas, LNG.  Mineral lessors or unleased mineral owners are along for the ride and have zero control over the volumes or the price for "their" wells.  The Haynesville Shale play is 18 years old and has had natural gas prices over ~$3.50 for about three of those years.  It has had sub $2.00 prices for far more years than that.  Unless you have a legally binding no cost royalty clause in your lease, you are subject to the pencil whipping where operators deduct from lessor's royalty payments.  Not counting severance tax and depending on the price they are paid, those deductions can be 20% to 40% of their gross payment.  Then you have to pay federal tax based on your bracket.

The global demand for LNG is uncertain long term and the Iran war and closure of the Strait and has forced many countries and gas end users to reconsider the security of that energy source.  Much of the world is working hard to get off all fossil fuels.  Asia is moving to solar and EVs and because of the Ukraine war Europe has been on a path to get off LNG for four years.  In Europe gasoline is much more expensive than here and EVs are quite popular.  The European market is US LNG's prime market and the question of falling demand there is something to consider.  Besides wind and solar, now countries are investing in geothermal and nuclear power.  Neither of those are vulnerable to the kinds of interruptions that oil and natural gas are.

As to individual mineral owners, the two main issues are the tax advantages of selling minerals and qualifying for long term capital gains tax and the present value of a dollar compared to receiving royalty over twenty or more years.  Inflation will always be with us at some undetermined rate.  Mineral rights are an asset to be managed based on the needs of the owner.  Many of the folks I advise on sales are older and not interested in an income stream of twenty or more years.  Some sellers have financial difficulties that a sale allows them to overcome.  Some prefer to sell and put the proceeds in other types of investments that they think are better that monthly royalty income.  Some sellers who own significant acreages; sell some and hold some.  Every sale and every seller is unique.  And knowing when mineral rights are at their peak value and what constitutes a true fair market price is beyond them without professional assistance.

Sorry for the long reply but as you can see there are many factors to consider and the mineral space is unlike any other asset market and beyond the grasp of 95% of mineral owners.  You are certainly capable of being a mineral buyer should you choose but there are many pitfalls and mineral companies have many experts at their disposal.  Title attorneys or long time title landmen.  Geologists and reservoir engineers.  They subscribe to all types of databases and analytic firms.  Check out the cost of the basic Enverus subscription.  One starts at ~$11k and goes up from there.  There is a lot of expense and risk in buying mineral rights.


Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on May 18, 2026 at 4:07

Mike, I realized that I didn't respond to one of your statements.  In regard to future wells, mineral companies do take that into consideration when making an offer.  At least the honest ones do.  And they have a better take on how many future wells a mineral right may involve.  If a mineral interest is highly valued for future wells beyond those that exist or are currently drilling, a mineral company may make an offer close to what they think the royalty income will be on those wells.  It will be conservative but if they can cover their acquisition price, any future wells will be their long term profit.  That is taking a risk but one that mineral companies understand and perform due diligence to weigh.


landownerPermalink Reply by Mike Wilson on May 18, 2026 at 5:40

Thanks Skip for taking the time with your detailed explinations. Much appreciated!


Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on May 18, 2026 at 6:43

You're welcome, Mike.  I often ask the mineral companies I deal with whether they are interested in Western Haynesville minerals.  Although they say they are not interested at this time that could very well change at some point in the future.  I feel sure they are following the play.


landownerPermalink Reply by Alan Herrington on May 23, 2026 at 3:31

Regarding the Western Haynesville, I thought I would pass along some mineral acquisition data from Anderson County where I live.  An uptick in mineral acquisitions began in the summer of 2025.  Since that time, about 650 mineral deeds have been filed in the Anderson County deed records.  Here are some of the grantees and the number of deeds they have acquired:

DSD Energy:  112

Cellar Investments:  66

Dixie Lake:  60

Cortez Energy:  30

Flora Minerals:  26

TMH Land:  24

Morningstar Minerals:  20

Horizon Minerals:  18

Eight Row Holdings:  11

DOXA Partners:  8



Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on May 23, 2026 at 3:35

Good information, Alan.  Thanks.  Investors are beginning to take notice of the Western Haynesville and direct the mineral companies they fund to make offers.  The numbers of deeds recorded are modest but interest should grow as more production data becomes available.  There is less data available for Anderson County.

Permalink Reply by Jesse Joyner on May 18, 2026 at 6:20

A smidgen of background on selling your minerals. In one respect, I've been quite fortunate to inherit sweet-spot mineral rights from my dad in Bossier Parish. Plus, I also inherited land & mineral rights per my birthright on my mom's side in Natchitoches Parish.

Yep, a Louisiana good ol' boy (like me) sometimes just gets lucky, huh? We're born into mailbox money. It was nothing to do with what we did or didn't do . . . except pop out of a womb. Our families simply followed the Napoleonic Code . . . and didn't cut us out of the will.

Easy peasy.

Didn't take much smarts to get what we got/get what we deserved. I mean, many Louisiana boys have simply stayed alive long enough to outlive their elders.

Hence, mailbox money.

Now, let me be honest. Let me tell you what my dad told me. My dad said: "Never sell your land and never sell your mineral rights." And what he meant by that was . . . you should only lease your land and minerals to an operator.

Now, um, here's the rub. My dad was a "do as I say, not as I do" good ol' boy. My dad was the real deal. He'd grown up around the large landowners of South Bossier and had inherited Red River river bottom. Primo for growing crops . . . and sprouting pumpjacks. But when such a large family of kids faces a funeral and the land has to be divided up . . . some voices want to go ahead and instantly turn their raw commodity of land . . . into greenback cash.

So my dad didn't take his own advice due to family pressure. Wish he had. Of course, I also ignored the advice, too . . . back when, years ago, I needed the money and sold my land and mineral rights in Natchitoches Parish. Dumb me. Such regret. My mom's family had held onto their undivided family tract for many decades . . . after my mom's father had died in the Great Depression. Yet they hadn't seen any promising drilling -- ever.

Well, that was before horizontal fracking came along. Turns out my mom's family's location might not have been in a classical sweet spot, per se . . . but it turned out to be a heck of a location for numerous HA horizontals.

Oh, lord. If only my mom's family had held on a bit longer. If only.

But, like, dumb me . . . they didn't listen to my dad's advice.

Bottom line. Try to keep your land as long as you can. Never sell your land, and you should only lease your minerals. It's good advice . . . unless you really, really need the money.

Me, I'll go to my grave regretting having sold my land and minerals in Natchitoches Parish. My only rationalization to appease my tough ol' dad . . . would be the fact that I sold my land to my brother, not to a mineral buyer.

But then, unexpectedly, my brother suddenly died -- way too young, and his widow went along with my cousins to liquidate . . . to grab the instant payday, instead of keeping the land in perpetuity.

So, I guess I'm a hypocrite, too. I preach what my dad preached . . . but then we both sold, when we should've held on anther decade or two.

Lesson learned. Hindsight is 20/20.       

 


landownerPermalink Reply by Steve P on May 21, 2026 at 15:31

My grandfather bought a farm in DeSoto Parish in 1905.  My father was raised on that land, and so was my siblings and I.  We still own our share, but several of my father’s siblings have sold their allotted portions.  Of course, we are happy that we still own our inherited land (and minerals).  I had a nephew pass away last year, and as we spread his ashes on that land, I told his grandchildren about the fact that our grandfather has purchased that land that we were standing on in 1905, and while I didn’t use the term “sacred”, I made it clear to them that we should hang on to this land, and pass it down to our children.  It is something tangible, that we can walk on, and, oh bye the way, that we can go down and see those 3 wells with the Porter name on them.

Selling minerals - a very different matter in my view.  It’s a business decision, and not an easy one.  I have far less emotional attachment to the minerals underground than I do the pine trees, the ground, the brush than I do the minerals.


Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on May 22, 2026 at 1:37

There is a thread running through the emotions of owning land that is not necessarily relevant to the mineral estate.  Mineral wealth was unheard of in many parts of the country prior to the 1920s or 1930s.  Many grandfathers and other older family members who acquired the land and hoped one day for a well lived through the Great Depression.  Those that owned land and were capable of farming and raising livestock came through that decade pretty much intact.  Money poor but land rich so to speak.  That was the reason behind saying never sell the land or the minerals.  Now days very few families could replicate what the older generations did in making a subsistence living on the land.  I like the idea of keeping family lands that hold memories of prior generations.

Permalink Reply by Hale Yayuh on May 22, 2026 at 3:02

I understand ties to land. But beyond about one or two generations, it's dicey. Nobody is mentioning that fractionated, undivided heirship of land can be a nightmare. There are many tracts in De Soto parish, alone, that nobody can do much with due to the numerous heirs involved. Some of these tracts have over 100 heirs. To me, that is a disastrous legacy position. They say to each other that nobody should ever sell. And then you end up with chaos. At the MOST, I'd say that in general, two generations MIGHT work. That is, unless the tract is very large. Large being hundreds to thousands of acres.


Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on May 22, 2026 at 3:10

Right you are Hale.  In Louisiana the situations you mention are somewhat limited in cases of mineral servitudes that expire with ten years of no production or well activity.  In Texas where mineral ownership severed from surface ownership is effective in perpetuity, the situation is much more pervasive and there can be more, and in some cases many more, co-owners than 100.  Mineral title in E TX can be a nightmare and even if heirs can be located, trying to get them to cooperate is truly a headache.  Louisiana's mineral law governing mineral servitudes make title much easier and clearer.

Land ownership going back to the early decades of the 20th. century can involve many generations of heirs.  And back them it was common for there to be large families.


Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Rock Man on May 19, 2026 at 6:20

One needs to remember that the Western Haynesville (aka Bossier) has multiple landing zones / target interval. Not a single zone being targeted. Comstock has already "proven" stacked benches.

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