Kassi's Posts - GoHaynesvilleShale.com2024-03-28T16:26:07ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassihttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2192512512?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=2zl6avri4oa1v&xn_auth=noNothing to do with oil or gas..just need to venttag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2009-02-18:2117179:BlogPost:4578232009-02-18T01:49:14.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
A friend of mine died yesterday. She was only 42 years old. She did not have cancer or some other horrible disease. She was not in an accident. She was shot to death by the man who claimed to love her. She left him last Friday. He called her yesterday and asked her to come to his apartment. Unfortunately she went. He was waiting there with a shot gun. He shot her twice as she tried to escape then turned the gun on himself. He left behind 2 children to wonder why he would kill and commit…
A friend of mine died yesterday. She was only 42 years old. She did not have cancer or some other horrible disease. She was not in an accident. She was shot to death by the man who claimed to love her. She left him last Friday. He called her yesterday and asked her to come to his apartment. Unfortunately she went. He was waiting there with a shot gun. He shot her twice as she tried to escape then turned the gun on himself. He left behind 2 children to wonder why he would kill and commit suicide.<br />
Thank God my friend had no children but her parents will grieve their last daughter. Her two sisters have both died of cancer. She was the sole survivor, missing the family legacy of cancer only to be gunned down by the man who claimed to love her.<br />
I do not understand such senseless violence. I have never understood how someone can say they love you then say cruel things and beat you. I certainly can not begin to wrap my mind around the concept of pointing a shotgun at someone you love and pulling the trigger twice then turning the gun on yourself.<br />
This man was selfish and cruel to the inth degree. Murder is the ultimate cruelty. He was a coward, choosing to turn the gun on her then himself rather than be a man and accept the end of the relationship. He was cruel not only to her but also to his own children who now live with the legacy that their father is a murder and did not love them enough to stick around on this earth. How do children cope with this. He obviously only cared about his own sick, twisted emotions.<br />
My friend was a vibrant, lively woman. She was far from perfect but she was a human being and child of God. She did not deserve to die for wanting to leave a relationship that had turned into something painful. She did not deserve to die on her birthday. She did not deserve to die at the hands of someone who claimed to love her.<br />
Please be gentle with those you love. Treat them with kindness, tenderness, mercy as you would want them to treat you. Love is not supposed to be about pain and fear. A friend of mine died yesterday, on her birthday, because she loved the wrong man.Haynesville Shale Basics for the Newbies out theretag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2008-10-20:2117179:BlogPost:1518292008-10-20T23:00:00.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
Since this site has gotten so big and there are so many newbies on here, I thought I would do a little basics outline for folks this time. Let me prefice this by saying that leasing has slowed to a crawl at this point and Chesapeake is backing out of many deals in areas they do not hold the majority. That said, I do think the market will stabalize and the leasing activity will ebb and flow for the next several years so information about drilling and leasing is still relevant. I hope this helps…
Since this site has gotten so big and there are so many newbies on here, I thought I would do a little basics outline for folks this time. Let me prefice this by saying that leasing has slowed to a crawl at this point and Chesapeake is backing out of many deals in areas they do not hold the majority. That said, I do think the market will stabalize and the leasing activity will ebb and flow for the next several years so information about drilling and leasing is still relevant. I hope this helps get some of you started in your quest for knowledge. Kassi<br />
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The Haynesville Shale and Mineral Leasing: What Every Land Owner Needs to Know<br />
What is the Haynesville Shale?<br />
• Unconventional gas deposit<br />
– Methane gas located in hard “shale” rock instead of porous rock formations.<br />
– Between 10,500 and 17,500 ft deep<br />
– Reported by Chesapeake CEO as being one of the “4 largest natural gas deposits in the world”<br />
– Extends from NW LA to E TX<br />
Parishes Impacted<br />
• Boarders not currently definitively defined<br />
• All of: Desoto, Jackson, Red River, Bienville<br />
• Southern: Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, Lincoln, Caldwell<br />
• Northern: Sabine, Natchitoches, Winn<br />
Drilling Basics<br />
• Usually takes 20-30 days, 24 hrs/7 days<br />
• Completion rig put into place<br />
• Frac trucks complete the fracturing process (takes about a week)<br />
• Well head is installed (Christmas Tree) along with storage tanks<br />
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Drilling Basics<br />
• Drilling & fracing processes are very loud<br />
• Noise abatement (sound barriers and sound blankets) help reduce noise.<br />
• 4-5 million gallons of water per day, per well for drilling & fracing process.<br />
• Only 5%-10% of water used can be recycled<br />
Drilling Basics<br />
• Drilling mud: Combo of fresh water, bentonite clay, barium sulfate & calcium carbonate<br />
• Disposed of by separating solids from water<br />
– Solids mixed with the land surface & must not be able to migrate to other land surfaces<br />
– Salt water goes in injection wells<br />
More Drilling Basics<br />
• Water used for fracing must be disposed of in deep formations in wells regulated by state and federal agencies due to potentially hazardous waste products<br />
• Naturally occurring radioactive material: NORM: can build up in well piping, storage tanks & other surfice equipment.<br />
Drilling: Potential Problems<br />
• Air Pollution from Diesel engines<br />
• Improperly drilled or cased wells or corroded casing can serve as pathways for contamination of aquifers<br />
• Oil based muds commonly used for high pressure shales or during directional drilling. Oil contaminated cuttings contain hazardous chemicals<br />
• Muds usually contain bentonite clay: very expansive soil. Common practice to dispose of drilling mud either by burying the reserve pit or discharge the mud to the surface<br />
• If building on a former drill site you must remove all unstable and toxic materials & fill the pit with compacted materials to qualify for FHA mortgage insurance.<br />
• Soaps and other substances sometimes used to remove drill cuttings may migrate from the borehole into the ground water zone that supplies private wells.<br />
• Well blowouts: can completely destroy rigs and surrounding homes may have to be evacuated<br />
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Drilling: The Land Owner Should<br />
• Negotiate protections in their lease such as:<br />
– Use of noise abatement technology<br />
– Testing of water wells prior to beginning of drilling activity or stipulation that the quality and quantity of water is adequate.<br />
– Payment for repair or replacement of water sources/wells if damaged<br />
– Payment for surface damages (take “before” pictures of the land/homes)<br />
• Negotiate protections in their lease such as:<br />
– Re-contouring and re-seeding the land<br />
– Minimum distance from inhabited dwellings for wells<br />
– Noise abatement technology and low pollution equipment<br />
– Off site disposal of waste products from drilling<br />
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Seismic Exploration<br />
• By blasting dynamite from a hole drilled several hundred ft in the ground OR<br />
• By dropping a heavy wt from a truck (thumper truck) on hard ground such as paved roads<br />
• By shaking the ground with a vibrasizer<br />
Seismic Exploration: Potential Problems<br />
• Seismic lines destroy vegetation & may cause erosion<br />
• 3-D tests –cause greater surface disturbance than 2-D tests<br />
• Dynamite “shot holes” may intercept the water table & water may begin to flow or seep to the surface.<br />
• Can cause water wells to become “dirty”<br />
Seismic Exploration: The Land Owner Should<br />
• Ask Co. to avoid steep slopes, surface water areas & any ecological sensitivity areas<br />
• Negotiate more payment and stronger surface damage provisions if 3-D testing is done<br />
• Get water wells tested before Seismic testing is done<br />
• Review state regulations and ensure the Co. follows them<br />
Legal Issues<br />
• Community Property: Both spouses must sign the lease<br />
• Co-owned land: Must have 80% ownership to lease without the other owners but “every effort” must be made to contact and contract with the other owner(s)<br />
• If no drilling for 10 years minerals revert to surface owner<br />
Legal Issues: Force Pooling<br />
• Typically 640 acres based on section lines<br />
• Land owners must be notified & hearing held (typically in Baton Rouge)<br />
• Costs taken out of production<br />
• The “risk charge” of 200% of expenses does not apply to unleased interest not subject to an oil, gas, and mineral lease<br />
Lease Details<br />
• Never sign a standard lease!<br />
• Minerals: Limit lease to petroleum and natural gas and related hydrocarbons only except coal, lignite and uranium.<br />
• Negotiate the best possible bonus payment and try to stick to a 3 year primary term only<br />
• Minimum royalty should be 25%<br />
• Ask for a “no cost” royalty<br />
• Royalty payments should begin within 120 days of production in paying quantities<br />
• Stipulate what constitutes timely payment and what penalties will result from late payment.<br />
• Royalty payments should be based on price of gas at the casinghead or market price.<br />
• Stipulate a minimum royalty per acre per year or define production in paying quantities.<br />
• Shut in provision should include:<br />
– Monthly or annual payment during shut in<br />
– Time limit on shut in<br />
• Allow for reasonable time in the event of a force majeure but stipulate what constitutes a force majeure<br />
• Request removal of any liability of warranty on the title<br />
• Include an indemnification clause<br />
• Include a vertical Pugh clause i.e.: you retain depths from 100 ft below the deepest formation produced by the production company in the Haynesville shale<br />
• Request horizontal Pugh clause<br />
• Do not allow clauses that allow units larger than 640 acres without state approval<br />
• Include a clause allowing you or your agent reasonable access to the Company’s books<br />
• Request horizontal Pugh clause<br />
• Do not allow clauses that allow units larger than 640 acres without state approval<br />
• Include a clause allowing you or your agent reasonable access to the Company’s books<br />
* Request strongly worded water protection including testing of wells if you utilize well water<br />
• Negotiate surface rights separately<br />
• Limit proximity of wells and storage tanks to inhabited dwellings<br />
• Include payment for all surface damages<br />
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How do I get what I need?<br />
• Organize your section/neighborhood<br />
• Collectively bargain<br />
• Ensure person negotiating for the group has adequate knowledge, business sense and negotiating skills<br />
• Do not sign anything without reading it and understanding it.<br />
• Pay for representation if necessary<br />
• Be patient, time is on your side<br />
• Research and educate yourself<br />
• Never allow yourself to be pressured into anything<br />
Where do I begin to organize?<br />
• Get a map of your section including property owners from the tax assessors office<br />
• Get in touch with people in your section<br />
• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate<br />
• Hire help if needed<br />
• Watch out for the elderly<br />
Most important advice!<br />
• Remember this is a long term business deal. It may last longer than many marriages!<br />
• The O&G Companies are not evil but they are smart business people. Insist on being treated as a business partner.<br />
• Do not go into mineral leasing lightly, read, ask questions, get help if needed to be sure the best possible lease is negotiated for you.<br />
<br />
Needed Mineral Code Changes: Contact your state represenative and ask for:<br />
• Mandatory Horizontal Pugh Clause<br />
• Separation of Mineral Leasing from Surface Leasing<br />
• Requirement for Disclosure of Activity<br />
• Three Day Waiting Period<br />
• Discussion & Lease in Native LanguageAn interesting tidbit of inormationtag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2008-10-07:2117179:BlogPost:1438472008-10-07T02:02:40.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
As you all know by now my neighborhood is held by production from a 1955 lease and a well in a completely different section. I and some of my neighbors have spent the past 3 weeks discussing the need to move forward with a demand for release and possible litigation with all of the folks in the affected area. There has been much discussion re, the attorney fee, court costs, etc.<br />
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There have been many questions raised and, since more and more people out there are finding themselves in the same…
As you all know by now my neighborhood is held by production from a 1955 lease and a well in a completely different section. I and some of my neighbors have spent the past 3 weeks discussing the need to move forward with a demand for release and possible litigation with all of the folks in the affected area. There has been much discussion re, the attorney fee, court costs, etc.<br />
<br />
There have been many questions raised and, since more and more people out there are finding themselves in the same possition I thought I would share some questions and answers:<br />
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1. If you are HBP in an old lease but your section was never drilled how do you get out of it?<br />
Answer: Under the Louisiana Mineral Code you must issue a demand for release. If the company does not release you in the specified time (30 days) then you file suit. There is case law from the Louisiana supreme court that has set a president in some cases of releasing people from leases if the old lease was assigned and divided in the assignment. You will need a good oil and gas attorney to review the research and determine if your case has a chance of succeeding.<br />
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2. If your land is HBP from an old lease and the well is in a different section that was also part of the old lease shouldn't you get royalties from the well that has you HBP?<br />
Answer: No, the only way you get royalties is if you are in the producing unit. The rest of the land in the old lease is not entitled to royalties but is still HBP if there was not pugh clause.<br />
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3. If you previously signed a lease then found out there was an old lease out there how does that impact the lease you recently signed?<br />
Answer: the lease you signed is not valid because the title was not clear if the property is HBP from another lease.<br />
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4. If you file a lawsuit to break the old lease does that prevent the O&G company from drilling in your section until the suit is completed?<br />
Answer: no, if the O&G company has enough acreage leased under clear title a lawsuit will not necessarily prevent them from drilling. They may choose not to drill in an area impacted by a lawsuit but a lawsuit as the one we are discussing would not preclude them from doing so.<br />
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5. If you have a lease that is about to expire and a lawsuit is filed will it stop the clock on the lease?<br />
Answer: No, the lawsuit will not stop the clock on an existing lease that is not subject to said lawsuit. If you are fighting an old lease such as the 1955 lease we are under and you signed a lease 3 years ago not knowing about the old lease then the only impact a lawsuit will have on the current lease is to legitimize it if you break the old lease. (confusing huh).<br />
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6. You are stuck in an old lease and your neighbors are moving forward with a lawsuit. What if you decide not to participate in the lawsuit and just wait until they break the old lease. Can't you then just reap the benefits of what they did without having to pay the attorney?<br />
Answer: No, only the people in the lawsuit will be released from the old lease. You will then have to file your own lawsuit to get out of the old lease. In my oppinion, it is better to go with the group from a fiscal standpoint.)<br />
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I know this blog is not as flowery or interesting as my prior posts but I thought the information may be of benefit to some of the folks out there experiening the same problem.An Unpopular Viewtag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2008-09-22:2117179:BlogPost:1311702008-09-22T08:00:00.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
I have always felt we are responsible for ourselves because we really cannot depend on others to be responsible for us. When I was sixteen I quit school, packed my bags and left home. I ended up homeless for a while then was blessed with a son who made me want to be more. My son and I were on food stamps and lived in government subsidized housing and I received Pell Grants when I finally got my GED and started college. I was grateful for the help but never saw it as a hand out instead I thought…
I have always felt we are responsible for ourselves because we really cannot depend on others to be responsible for us. When I was sixteen I quit school, packed my bags and left home. I ended up homeless for a while then was blessed with a son who made me want to be more. My son and I were on food stamps and lived in government subsidized housing and I received Pell Grants when I finally got my GED and started college. I was grateful for the help but never saw it as a hand out instead I thought of it as a hand up. I also worked two jobs, got out of the government subsidized housing within a year and stopped receiving food stamps as soon as we could eat without them. God has blessed me over the years more times than I can count but not because I sat around waiting for someone else to take care of me. My point in telling you this is to say that life is far from always being easy BUT it is up to us to do everything we can to care for ourselves and improve our situation.<br />
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In most cases people cannot do things to us if we do not let them. In many cases our problems are brought about by our own poor choices and yet our society has developed a victim, take care of me, I am helpless, get them before or because they get me mentality that drives me crazy.<br />
<br />
We have no issue with spending $50.00 to eat out but we cringe at putting $20.00 in the offering plate at church or worse yet saving that money and paying down the debt we have run up buying things we cannot afford. Think about it our economy is driven by debt and its primary failure is debt. We seek instant gratification and buy more, better, bigger then we get angry when bill collectors call. We file bankruptcy then talk about how we want to wait until our bankruptcy closes to lease so “they” won’t get our money.<br />
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We can spend hours talking about how the government is screwing us (sorry but that is the vernacular we use isn’t it?) with taxes, and various laws. Yet many of us do not bother to vote, write our congressmen or seek ways to improve the system in small ways. Why should we that is what “they” are supposed to do.<br />
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We gripe about entitlements and those who use the system. Those who use the system often gripe about how the system does not do enough for them. Yet we do not look at ways to help make things better, improve the system, etc.<br />
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We gripe about our jobs, our bosses, our pay. We do not bother with realizing how blessed we are to even have a job. We do not seek a change in job or seek to improve our education or our skills in order to qualify for a better job; instead we focus on what we cannot do and how others prevent us from succeeding.<br />
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Then along comes the Haynesville Shale and mineral leasing became the topic of discussion and dismay. So we had another “they” to point to and say how they have wronged us. But, how many read the leases before they signed them? I have been in meetings where I asked a room full of people how many read and understood they lease they signed and no one raised their hand! Where is our personal accountability? If we do not seek to educate ourselves and be responsible for the consequences of what we sign where is our personal accountability? If we look only at the dollar signs and not at the terms of the lease and how that will impact us long term are we setting ourselves up to be “victims” again? If we do not seek changes to the mineral code that level the playing field do we have a right to gripe about how the code is written?<br />
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Right here on our beloved GoHaynesvilleShale.com we have seen a slipping of personal accountability at times. People taking more time to try and tear others down than lift them up. People bickering and finding fault instead of seeking the knowledge and discarding the rest. Blaming others for infighting and not looking at what we may have done to contribute to the fray and correct our own behavior instead of lamenting others. If we were being personally accountable for our actions would we be so quick to make unnecessary snide remarks that suit no purpose other than to tear others down? One time I was angered by a posting by someone which I felt was a personal attack on me. Instead of being accountable for myself and moving forward I responded with an angry retort. A poster named Mom made one comment on my personal page. She simply said “must we display anger in public?” I blushed when I read it and quickly deleted my public post and emailed her thanking her for reminding me of the importance of manners. I am grateful to the shaler named “Mom” for gently yet firmly prodding me back into personal accountability for my actions and words.<br />
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Even the most independent, pick yourself up by the bootstraps type of person is guilty of at least some of the above mentioned infractions. I said we because I am guilty of many of them also, credit cards, not always voting when I was younger, staying stuck in a job I had lost my passion for because I feared making a change and loosing security, staying in a bad marriage too long out of guilt, giving angry responses instead of controlling my anger. It seems to be an unpopular view, but how much better would our lives and our world be if we more consistently took responsibility for ourselves and our lives and our society? So my Haynesville friends I challenge all of us to seek to change that which we can, educate those whom we can and gently but firmly help those around us to take a little more personal responsibility and see what a difference it can make to embrace an unpopular view.A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Sign The Letter Of Intenttag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2008-08-25:2117179:BlogPost:979222008-08-25T05:00:00.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
A funny thing happened on the way to sign the letter of intent..NOT!<br />
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I have been working since May for my area. I went door to door and talked to folks in my section about mineral rights and the need to collectively bargain. I had meetings in my living room then moved them to my yard when there were too many to fit into the house. Soon people from outside my section were joining our group and we had representatives from 8 sections.<br />
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I have been negotiating with the O&G Company for 2…
A funny thing happened on the way to sign the letter of intent..NOT!<br />
<br />
I have been working since May for my area. I went door to door and talked to folks in my section about mineral rights and the need to collectively bargain. I had meetings in my living room then moved them to my yard when there were too many to fit into the house. Soon people from outside my section were joining our group and we had representatives from 8 sections.<br />
<br />
I have been negotiating with the O&G Company for 2 months. We reached an agreement regarding money and royalty percentage relatively easily. The terms of the lease related to environmental protections, land owner protections and such took more time and meetings, meetings, meetings, emails, emails and more emails.<br />
<br />
Finally last Tuesday we reached an agreement that, while a couple of us would have liked some stronger wording here and there, most of my group was thrilled with. People were excited and questions regarding when we sign a letter of intent became the topic of all emails and calls from the group.<br />
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Then came Wednesday evening when the land man called and said we need to talk. He came by and told me that most of 2 of the sections in our group (including the one I live in) may be held by production from a well in a completely different section due to a lease in 1955. Now, I must say, while the land man I have been dealing with is a tough negotiator, he was compassionate when discussing this and went so far as to bring me a copy of the lease the next day. It seems while researching section 28 they stumbled across a 1955 lease that encompassed land in section 30, 19 and section 25 of another township and range but that runs contiguous with section 30 in my neighborhood.<br />
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Thursday one of our group members spent the day at the court house trying to research and Friday I joined her and another member to trace the land from the point of the 1955 lease to the present. We are still researching as we must trace every land transaction in our two sections as well as trace the lease/well ownership from its inception in 1955 to the present.<br />
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So, Saturday morning I had to tell the people in the affected areas of section 25 and 30 that they may not be able to lease. Telling 50 families that their dreams, and mine had just effectively gone up in smoke due to a 1955 well was heart breaking to say the least. Some could not understand because they had leased before 2 or 3 years ago. What they did not know is many companies, lease flippers and land men only did a 20 or 30 year title search. This would not have picked up on a 1955 lease! Of course we were all sad to see the opportunity for such monitory gain slip through our fingers but the part that really saddened us is the probable loss of the land, environmental and land owner protections we had in the lease agreement I negotiated (they did not have that kind of stuff in 1955 leases).<br />
<br />
Immediately after letting down so many people I began a series of meetings in my home that had been scheduled to sign letters of intent for the other members of the group not impacted by this unfortunate event. My friends and I (all of whom live in the area that may be HBP from the 1955 lease/well) worked from 12:30 PM until 10:00 PM Saturday explaining the lease, addendum and letter of intent to 63 families and organizing their signed letters of intent with their legal land descriptions.<br />
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At first it was hard to get through this due to our own feelings of grief and frustration. Many people asked us why we were continuing to do all of this work for those who were going to get to lease when we may not. The answer was simple, I started this to bring the community together, educate people and ensure people were protected more than they would be on their own. That has not changed. The ladies who were helping me volunteered early on to help and agreed the right thing to do was to see this through for all.<br />
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As the day wore on we found ourselves discussing how blessed we were even if this thing does not get worked out. Our community used to be a bunch of people who happen to live close to each other but did not really know each other. That is no longer the case. We now know each other. Many of us have developed friendships that will now last a lifetime. Some of us are pursuing business opportunities together. We have learned, grown and our community is now truly a community in every old fashioned sense of the word. By 10pm when we were able to turn our attention back to our problem and start categorizing the research done so far and planning for the next trip to the courthouse we were laughing (of course the strawberry lemonade Vodka drink one of the ladies made helped with that!). A funny thing happened on my way to sign my letter of intent. I did not get to sign it but I felt more blessed than the day before anyway.The Podium is yours sir.tag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2008-08-13:2117179:BlogPost:788052008-08-13T21:05:26.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
I had an interesting experience this Sunday. I was scheduled to speak to a local homeowners association. The turn out was great, around 400 people guessing from how full the auditorium was. A member of the Homeowners association went before me and did a great job giving about a 10 minute speech regarding things he had seen on a recent trip to Fort Worth and his concerns regarding the impact of the Haynesville shale on this inner city neighborhood.<br />
<br />
My turn came to speak and I began my usual…
I had an interesting experience this Sunday. I was scheduled to speak to a local homeowners association. The turn out was great, around 400 people guessing from how full the auditorium was. A member of the Homeowners association went before me and did a great job giving about a 10 minute speech regarding things he had seen on a recent trip to Fort Worth and his concerns regarding the impact of the Haynesville shale on this inner city neighborhood.<br />
<br />
My turn came to speak and I began my usual talk. I told folks how I got involved in all of this (see my last blog for all of that) then began discussing the impact of the Haynesville shale and mineral leasing. I discussed environmental concerns such as noise and air pollution, water usage, etc.<br />
<br />
I was discussing the importance of assuring your lease protects your environment and limiting how close a well can be to your home, etc when a man raised his hand. I stopped and asked if he had a question. The next thing I know this man (who happened to work in the oil and gas industry) was up on the stage and behind the podium. I stepped aside and he proceeded to say he thought he was supposed to speak and that people did not have to worry about putting things in their leases to protect their homes and environment. He stated (rather sarcastically) that the department of conservation prides itself on being strict on oil and gas companies. He also stated that people in Shreveport did not need to worry about the water issue because they do not get their water from an underground aquifer.<br />
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A lady in the audience stood up and stated she did not mean to be rude but she wanted to hear the rest of what I had to say. The man gave the podium back to me. I then made the point that while Shreveport gets their water from Cross Lake it is not an endless resource. If they are using an extra 4 to 5 million gallons of water per day during drilling of each well from Cross Lake and the civil demand increases from the increased population that is bound to come with prosperity, water conservation could become an issue in Shreveport just as it has become one in Fort Worth. I also pointed out that the laws and regulations have loopholes and the best way to ensure your concerns are addressed is by including clauses in your lease that address them.<br />
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I told the group that they should research everything well before signing a lease. But I also invited our uninvited speaker back up to the podium to finish his thoughts. In the few minutes he was up there several people in the audience challenged him with questions or statements regarding the need for conservation. Here is the thing folks, We should be willing to hear what anyone has to say. Everyone is going to tell you things based on their own agenda. Take what anyone says with a grain of salt, but listen. That is how we learn. What happened Sunday was a shining example of how some in the oil and gas industry will try to disrupt things and try to convince people not to protect themselves and their environment in their leases. It also showed that we need to be willing to research, listen and confirm for ourselves what is true and what is false in order to make the wisest decisions about our land and minerals.The Podium is Yours Sirtag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2008-08-12:2117179:BlogPost:750502008-08-12T10:21:59.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
I had an interesting experience this Sunday. I was scheduled to speak to a local homeowners association. The turn out was great, around 400 people guessing from how full the auditorium was. A member of the Homeowners association went before me and did a great job giving about a 10 minute speech regarding things he had seen on a recent trip to Fort Worth and his concerns regarding the impact of the Haynesville shale on this inner city neighborhood.<br />
<br />
My turn came to speak and I began my usual…
I had an interesting experience this Sunday. I was scheduled to speak to a local homeowners association. The turn out was great, around 400 people guessing from how full the auditorium was. A member of the Homeowners association went before me and did a great job giving about a 10 minute speech regarding things he had seen on a recent trip to Fort Worth and his concerns regarding the impact of the Haynesville shale on this inner city neighborhood.<br />
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My turn came to speak and I began my usual talk. I told folks how I got involved in all of this (see my last blog for all of that) then began discussing the impact of the Haynesville shale and mineral leasing. I discussed environmental concerns such as noise and air pollution, water usage, etc.<br />
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I was discussing the importance of assuring your lease protects your environment and limiting how close a well can be to your home, etc when a man raised his hand. I stopped and asked if he had a question. The next thing I know this man (who happened to work in the oil and gas industry) was up on the stage and behind the podium. I stepped aside and he proceeded to say he thought he was supposed to speak and that people did not have to worry about putting things in their leases to protect their homes and environment. He stated (rather sarcastically) that the department of conservation prides itself on being strict on oil and gas companies. He also stated that people in Shreveport did not need to worry about the water issue because they do not get their water from an underground aquifer.<br />
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A lady in the audience stood up and stated she did not mean to be rude but she wanted to hear the rest of what I had to say. The man gave the podium back to me. I then made the point that while Shreveport gets their water from Cross Lake it is not an endless resource. If they are using an extra 4 to 5 million gallons of water per day during drilling of each well from Cross Lake and the civil demand increases from the increased population that is bound to come with prosperity, water conservation could become an issue in Shreveport just as it has become one in Fort Worth. I also pointed out that the laws and regulations have loopholes and the best way to ensure your concerns are addressed is by including clauses in your lease that address them.<br />
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I told the group that they should research everything well before signing a lease. But I also invited our uninvited speaker back up to the podium to finish his thoughts. In the few minutes he was up there several people in the audience challenged him with questions or statements regarding the need for conservation. Here is the thing folks, We should be willing to hear what anyone has to say. Everyone is going to tell you things based on their own agenda. Take what anyone says with a grain of salt, but listen. That is how we learn. What happened Sunday was a shining example of how some in the oil and gas industry will try to disrupt things and try to convince people not to protect themselves and their environment in their leases. It also showed that we need to be willing to research, listen and confirm for ourselves what is true and what is false in order to make the wisest decisions about our land and minerals.My first gohaynesvilleshale.com blogtag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2008-07-29:2117179:BlogPost:491482008-07-29T00:48:55.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
My first gohaynesvilleshale.com blog:<br />
Haynesville asked me to do a blog every other week here on gohaynesvilleshale.com. I decided my first entry should be a little bit of history about how I got involved in all of this so here goes.<br />
I have 3.5 acres in a Desoto Parish neighborhood. We were one of the first families to move into our subdivision. After my divorce I chose to stay here with my boys because it is such a peaceful area filled with good hardworking families. One of those families…
My first gohaynesvilleshale.com blog:<br />
Haynesville asked me to do a blog every other week here on gohaynesvilleshale.com. I decided my first entry should be a little bit of history about how I got involved in all of this so here goes.<br />
I have 3.5 acres in a Desoto Parish neighborhood. We were one of the first families to move into our subdivision. After my divorce I chose to stay here with my boys because it is such a peaceful area filled with good hardworking families. One of those families bought the worst lot in our neighborhood a few years ago. This family worked hard to clear the lot and make it inhabitable. After much work they moved a home onto the property.<br />
One week in April of 2008 land men were canvassing our neighborhood. I happened to be home sick. The land man stopped by my home and offered me $1,500.00 per acre to lease my minerals. Of course, I said no. The next day my neighbor next door told me the hard working family I mentioned above signed a lease for $350.00 per acre the same day I was offered $1,500.00 per acre the local beauty shop owner called me and said another person on another street received $4,500.00 per acre. All of these offers were given by the same company on the same day.<br />
The neighbor who signed for $350.00 per acre was Hispanic American who lives in a trailer and does not speak English well enough to really understand the details of what he was signing. I am a single mother, nurse and have a small but comfortable wooden home on my little parcel of paradise. The person offered $4,500.00 per acre has more land than me. This made me feel things were being done based on socio-economic lines. That made me angry. Now, my Mama always said I am like a cross between a pit bull and a Chihuahua when I get angry and she is right!<br />
I began to research oil and gas leasing, environmental impact, land owner rights, Louisiana oil and gas law, department of conservation regulations, etc. I also contacted channel 3, 6, and 12 news via email as well as the Shreveport times and reserved a room at the local library to have a meeting. On April 26, 2008 I had my first oil and gas meeting. I expected to get 50 neighbors there to discuss what was happening in our area. 400 people showed up! We had to move the meeting to the park because the library was not large enough to hold the crowd. Vickie Wellborn from the Times was there and did a great article in the paper the following Sunday and Monday. I interviewed with Jim Roberts of channel 3 and they broke the story on TV. Later channel 12 came out and interviewed me during one of my “meetings on the front lawn” I began having in my neighborhood.<br />
The magnitude of the turn out at my first meeting convinced me there was a serious need to educate land owners. I started seeking a larger venue in which to have meetings. I also continued to research oil and gas drilling, mineral leasing, regulations and laws related to oil and gas, law suits, companies involved in oil and gas drilling, etc. I met with people from various aspects of the industry as well as attorneys, etc.<br />
I could not find a venue large enough that I could afford so I was getting frustrated when I read that Mayor Cedric Glover of Shreveport had traveled to Fort Worth to learn about the Barnet Shale and how the cities impacted by urban drilling had handled things. I decided to take a chance and email him for help. Imagine my surprise when Mayor Glover called me back personally. He was very interested in working together to put forth a public forum. Within 2 weeks of that first phone call we were preparing to have the Shreveport public forums. We had a turn out of over 1300 people for the June 12, 2008 forum and I think it was a little more at the June 21, 2008 meeting. Needless to say I was very excited to see people becoming educated.<br />
Once the forums were done I turned my attention back to my little corner of the world. I got a map of my section and put out flyers, went door to door, etc. in order to reach people who were not yet leased. We began having meetings in my living room. When we outgrew my living room we moved to my yard. As time went by we added people form other surrounding sections to our group. We now have ~500 acres in our group.<br />
I continue to receive many requests for help and I have noticed the plethora of people/companies suddenly cropping up to represent people in negotiating mineral leases. I became concerned about these businesses because they were charging 4%-5% of peoples sign on bonuses and some were charging parts of their royalties as well. I did not think these companies were looking beyond the dollar signs and ensuring clauses to protect the land and land owners nor are they educating land owners so I have opened a consulting firm. I still have my day job and my two boys to care for but I give talks to neighborhood groups so they will be a little more informed (for free, everyone deserves to have a starting point of knowledge!), I continue to negotiate for our group and I am starting to have some paying clients. Of course, I continue to research and take every opportunity in the media to help educate land owners.<br />
I do not think the oil and gas companies are evil. I do think they are smart business people who want to maximize profits. We, the land owners have been entering into these leases in much too frivolous a manner up to this point. It is a business deal folks, we need to treat it as such…hmm, good topic for the next blog! Until next time, happy shaling folks! Kassi205My first gohaynesvilleshale.com blogtag:gohaynesvilleshale.com,2008-07-28:2117179:BlogPost:470022008-07-28T06:00:00.000ZKassihttps://gohaynesvilleshale.com/profile/Kassi
My first gohaynesvilleshale.com blog:<br />
Haynesville asked me to do a blog every other week here on gohaynesvilleshale.com. I decided my first entry should be a little bit of history about how I got involved in all of this so here goes.<br />
I have 3.5 acres in a Desoto Parish neighborhood. We were one of the first families to move into our subdivision. After my divorce I chose to stay here with my boys because it is such a peaceful area filled with good hardworking families. One of those families…
My first gohaynesvilleshale.com blog:<br />
Haynesville asked me to do a blog every other week here on gohaynesvilleshale.com. I decided my first entry should be a little bit of history about how I got involved in all of this so here goes.<br />
I have 3.5 acres in a Desoto Parish neighborhood. We were one of the first families to move into our subdivision. After my divorce I chose to stay here with my boys because it is such a peaceful area filled with good hardworking families. One of those families bought the worst lot in our neighborhood a few years ago. This family worked hard to clear the lot and make it inhabitable. After much work they moved a home onto the property.<br />
One week in April of 2008 land men were canvassing our neighborhood. I happened to be home sick. The land man stopped by my home and offered me $1,500.00 per acre to lease my minerals. Of course, I said no. The next day my neighbor next door told me the hard working family I mentioned above signed a lease for $350.00 per acre the same day I was offered $1,500.00 per acre the local beauty shop owner called me and said another person on another street received $4,500.00 per acre. All of these offers were given by the same company on the same day.<br />
The neighbor who signed for $350.00 per acre was Hispanic American who lives in a trailer and does not speak English well enough to really understand the details of what he was signing. I am a single mother, nurse and have a small but comfortable wooden home on my little parcel of paradise. The person offered $4,500.00 per acre has more land than me. This made me feel things were being done based on socio-economic lines. That made me angry. Now, my Mama always said I am like a cross between a pit bull and a Chihuahua when I get angry and she is right!<br />
I began to research oil and gas leasing, environmental impact, land owner rights, Louisiana oil and gas law, department of conservation regulations, etc. I also contacted channel 3, 6, and 12 news via email as well as the Shreveport times and reserved a room at the local library to have a meeting. On April 26, 2008 I had my first oil and gas meeting. I expected to get 50 neighbors there to discuss what was happening in our area. 400 people showed up! We had to move the meeting to the park because the library was not large enough to hold the crowd. Vickie Wellborn from the Times was there and did a great article in the paper the following Sunday and Monday. I interviewed with Jim Roberts of channel 3 and they broke the story on TV. Later channel 12 came out and interviewed me during one of my “meetings on the front lawn” I began having in my neighborhood.<br />
The magnitude of the turn out at my first meeting convinced me there was a serious need to educate land owners. I started seeking a larger venue in which to have meetings. I also continued to research oil and gas drilling, mineral leasing, regulations and laws related to oil and gas, law suits, companies involved in oil and gas drilling, etc. I met with people from various aspects of the industry as well as attorneys, etc.<br />
I could not find a venue large enough that I could afford so I was getting frustrated when I read that Mayor Cedric Glover of Shreveport had traveled to Fort Worth to learn about the Barnet Shale and how the cities impacted by urban drilling had handled things. I decided to take a chance and email him for help. Imagine my surprise when Mayor Glover called me back personally. He was very interested in working together to put forth a public forum. Within 2 weeks of that first phone call we were preparing to have the Shreveport public forums. We had a turn out of over 1300 people for the June 12, 2008 forum and I think it was a little more at the June 21, 2008 meeting. Needless to say I was very excited to see people becoming educated.<br />
Once the forums were done I turned my attention back to my little corner of the world. I got a map of my section and put out flyers, went door to door, etc. in order to reach people who were not yet leased. We began having meetings in my living room. When we outgrew my living room we moved to my yard. As time went by we added people form other surrounding sections to our group. We now have ~500 acres in our group.<br />
I continue to receive many requests for help and I have noticed the plethora of people/companies suddenly cropping up to represent people in negotiating mineral leases. I became concerned about these businesses because they were charging 4%-5% of peoples sign on bonuses and some were charging parts of their royalties as well. I did not think these companies were looking beyond the dollar signs and ensuring clauses to protect the land and land owners nor are they educating land owners so I have opened a consulting firm. I still have my day job and my two boys to care for but I give talks to neighborhood groups so they will be a little more informed (for free, everyone deserves to have a starting point of knowledge!), I continue to negotiate for our group and I am starting to have some paying clients. Of course, I continue to research and take every opportunity in the media to help educate land owners.<br />
I do not think the oil and gas companies are evil. I do think they are smart business people who want to maximize profits. We, the land owners have been entering into these leases in much too frivolous a manner up to this point. It is a business deal folks, we need to treat it as such…hmm, good topic for the next blog! Until next time, happy shaling folks! Kassi205