Horizontal drilling, improved seismic testing, and liner casing are offering new hope for the deep minerals in parts of the Austin Chalk which runs from near Austin, Texas through the middle of Louisiana to Biloxi Mississippi.
In 1995, the USGS determined that the Austin Chalk is one of our Nation's largest, onshore domestic unconventional, continuous-type oil resource. More recently, exploration and production in frontier areas of Texas and Louisiana have shown that the Austin Chalk has additional potential as a continuous-type deep-gas resource mostly to the east and downdip of existing oil plays.
Over a decade later, now leasing and drilling activity is picking up in certain parishes of Central Louisiana following improved technologies.
Austin chalk runs from above New Orleans to Pointe Coupee, Avoyelles Rapides and Vernon Parishes