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Permalink Reply by Cillian on July 23, 2008 at 4:26

Scott Angelle is the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Angelle oversees the executive management and policy of the office. The executive officer of the DNR is appointed by the Governor. Along with the Office of the Secretary there are three primary offices of the department (the Office of Coastal Restoration and Management, the Office of Conservation, and the Office of Mineral Resources). Welsh is the Commissioner of the Office of Conservation, which oversees regulation and conservation (the technical side. 5 depts under Welsh: engineering, geological oil & gas, groundwater resources, injection & mining and pipeline)

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Permalink Reply by Natch N3 on July 23, 2008 at 5:47

Cillian you either work at teh LDNR or you are a very knowledgable individual in the LDNR infrastructure....your posts i found are very informative and I hope you keep sharing your knowledge in this area....

thanks so much
-natch n3

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Permalink Reply by Cillian on July 23, 2008 at 5:54

natch, I am a local journalist (will leave it at that for now). I hope I can be helpul, but am by no means an expert. My specialty is finding answers :) I am very interested in this subject, both as a journalist and as a landowner. I've learned a lot over the past few months!

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Permalink Reply by Natch N3 on July 23, 2008 at 6:11

cillian, i do believe you will find this site full of information on both a professional as well as personal level. I confess i learn something new each day i log on!!..best of luck and keep those posts coming with any information you find out and can share!!

natch n3

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Permalink Reply by JW on August 17, 2008 at 13:14

Cillian,
I was just wondering if you have had a chance to find any "answers" on this subject.

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Permalink Reply by DrWAVeSport Cd1 on July 23, 2008 at 6:35

Cillian,

Thank you, in advance for your interest and responses. You seem to be the only individual making ANY attempt. But, respectfully, we all know who sits where and what State position they hold.

And you are correct, most mineral owners have no clue as to what "applications for hearing" or "legal notices" are holding in them. I have never attended one of these hearings so I am not assuming that I know how they work...but, they seem to go uncontested per O&G company request for ANY changes dealing with oil and gas fields/zones whether it be unitizing them, changing their established depths of field/ pooling sections in them, etc. etc.

We need a straight answer from the "horses mouth," per the ramifications of the granting/or not granting of these addenda. I would hope/think that since O&G has been doing business in LA for time and beyond, that these answers are fully KNOWN and fully UNDERSTOOD BY OUR STATE DEPARTMENTS THAT OVERSEE THESE BUSINESS PRACTICES AND "POSSIBLY" (I REPEAT POSSIBLY) QUESTIONABLE DRILLING TECHNIQUES THAT ARE BEING "SHOVED" PAST THE COMMISSIONER/STAFF WHO ARE PUSHING PAPER JUST AS FAST AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN.

Cillian...as you say "no one ever shows up" to dogwatch these poceedings to contest such happenings. However, that does not exempt our state department HEADS from PROTECTING OUR RIGHTS in every possible way. WE DO PAY THEM TO DO THIS FOR US! And, we should not have to be LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS TO SEE THAT THINGS ARE DONE RIGHT!!!!

I am very disappointed right now with this lack of attention to OUR repeated requests for JUST AN EXPLANATION, LET ALONE ANY ACTION BE TAKEN FOR ANYTHING!

This is very simple. We would appreciate an explanation. So far, that is all this would take to suffice our (at this point) our need to know.

One last reply, I have sent several faxes and have yet to receive a phone call, or a letter. I get everyone is busy, but this is very important to NWLa mineral owners and we deserve to be heard by our Government Representatives!

And, until answers are given, this whole situation is beginning to "smell" worse and worse and leaves wide speculation that these addenda are NOT IN OUR BEST INTEREST, OR ANSWERS WOULD HAVE BEEN FORTHCOMING LONG AGO!

I have worked for an O&G company, and that animal is a very "slipppery" one to catch per anything they do behind closed doors or under your feet, so to speak.

I do appreciate your interest. And I will be very interested in what you can report back to us. You are the 1st to further this discussion, outside us Haynsevile Shalers. Welcome aboard. I hope you can get something out of those good folks in Baton Rouge. We don't seem to carry enough weight up here in NWLa.

DrWAVeSport V 7/23/08

P.S. AND IF BY CHANCE THE OFFICE OF CONSERVATION OR THE MINERAL BOARD CANNOT ANSWER THE ABOVE OR DOES NOT KNOW THE ANSWERS WE ARE SEEKING....WE ARE IN A "BIG BOWL OF WRONG!" AND, SOMEONE ELSE NEEDS TO BE RUNNING THE SHOW DOWN THERE!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Natch N3 on July 23, 2008 at 6:56

well stated.

thank you

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Permalink Reply by Cillian on July 23, 2008 at 7:13

Do you, perchance, have me confused with someone else? I never said "no one ever shows up."

I did explain who Angelle is, because someone asked me to, after I mentioned his name. So, apparently, not everyone here does know who sits where and what State position they hold.

I'll have to follow up on the rest later.

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Permalink Reply by easttexas12 on July 23, 2008 at 6:03

I was told by the Texas Railroad Commission last week that O&G doesn't have to report production until they get their "number" from the TRRC. I asked how long that takes, he stated it could take SIX MONTHS lol. In other words, O&G doesn't have to report to the public in a timely manner so we can make an informed decision on our mineral rights. It is what it is..

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Permalink Reply by Cillian on July 23, 2008 at 6:41

All the more reason not to rush into making any decisions, I say. Based on what we've seen in Fort Worth, there is absolutely no need to jump into any leases within the next 6 months or even a year, for that matter. The name of the game right now is grabbing up land, but not everyone can expect drilling to begin immediately. Hard to believe, considering how much drilling is going on already. But just think about what's still to come! There's just no way they're going to get to every unit they've leased up. Looking at the 'core' area alone (3.5 million acres as defined by CHK), simplified to one unit per well, you're looking at more than 54,000 wells. And we know there will be more than one well per unit. Assuming an average drilling and completion time of a month, and you're looking at 5 years - and that would be back-to-back, not taking permitting and paperwork into account.

For perspective: the Barnett is 5,000 sq miles (6k now probably - like the Haynesville, its boundaries are still expanding), which breaks down to just 3.2 - 3.8 million acres. O&Gs have been working there since the 80s, though significant drilling didn't start til the 90s, and the urban stuff got going around 2002 - heating up since 2006. According to the TRRC: As of June 3,2008 there are a total of 7,766 gas wells entered on RRC records. In addition, there are 4,661 permitted locations.

The lesson here: people need to sit back, relax, watch and wait. Wait, check that. People need to organize, get informed, and then sit back, relax, watch and wait.

As long as most surface owners work together in a given unit, no there is no reason to fear being passed over. The gas isn't going anywhere. Don't trip over yourselves just to turn around and shoot yourselves in the foot!

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Permalink Reply by DrWAVeSport Cd1 on July 23, 2008 at 7:28

Cillian,

I beg to differ with your comments. People cannot sit back and relax. The force pooling letters are hitting peoples mailboxes as we blog. Look at Sonris lite. There are only so many sections that need to be force pooled in NWLa for things to change quickly and dramatically!

I would venture to say that 100% of "legal notices" are including 2-5 sections that the O&G companies are receiving permission from the Oof Conservation to "force pool" for drilling, all leased up or not! Is the Oof Conservation really making sure that 50+ percent of these pooled sections are ACTUALLY, LEGALLY, ALL THE DOTS AND Ts CROSSED, LEASE-SIGNED AND RECORDED before being force pooled?

Two or three or four sections under force pooling, with only 50% leasing is a HUGE LAND GRAB, minus the longer method of getting mineral owners leased and then drilling the ng.

Once force pooling hits your front door, the clock is ticking faster and faster. Read reports per CHK drilling one well on each side of a section line...so as to HBP both sections...then later come back and beginning additional wells. If other E&Ps are doing same, then time moves even faster.

For some reason, the land grab in NWLa's Haynesville Shale Play is following a different path from that of the Barnett. Much faster deals and much faster drilling. Maybe the O&Gs and E&Ps have perfected their strategies per same through their Barnett learning curve. But, things are moving way to fast around here for my taste. I don't think the O&Gs want the mineral owners to have as much time to "think" about "things" as the Barnett owners were given. And, the word is out about this "shale" play thing...so many many more oil and ng operators are jumping in thus tremendously picking up the speed to finish this 1st part of the play.

Five months ago, I agreed with you, per your statement..."The lesson here: people need to sit back, relax, watch and wait. Wait, check that. People need to organize, get informed, and then sit back, relax, watch and wait."

Today, I do not agree with you. No one in NWLa needs to sit back and relax. FORCE POOLING IS GOING TO CHANGE EVERYTHING VERY QUICKLY!!!!! And most everyone is going to be getting a letter per same in the future!

DrWAVeSport 7/23/08

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Permalink Reply by Cillian on July 23, 2008 at 7:59

With all due respect, it's exactly that kind of panic that's sending more people than necessary over the edge. I agree with you that this play is progressing much faster than the Barnett, but the lesson remains the same. Those folks in Wedgewood Square waited patiently for a full year. Granted, forced pooling in TX and LA are different animals, but one thing holds true throughout: the neighborhoods that stuck together, remained calm and focused their energies on waiting to sign are the ones taking $27k+ per acre to the bank.

Here in the HS, some damage is already done, but there is still plenty of time for other communities to pull it off. As you yourself have been known to point out, these are our minerals. We allow them to be taken from us, mineral acre by mineral acre, because we want our money now, or we've been told we'll be passed over and we believe it.

He who holds the 51st percent holds the upper hand. Why does it have to be an o&G? Why can't it be us? Because they know all they have to do is suggest a few things here and there and we'll do the rest for them by splintering off and signing our rights over piecemeal.

Panic and misinformation have caused division among us in our communities, but it doesn't have to be that way.

For these reasons, I still say: CALM....DOWN!

Sadly, there are plenty of people out there that can't do that. They want something done NOW. They want answers NOW. And if they can't get answers NOW, then by gum, they'll wrap this thing up and get it over with, it's every surface owner for himself, signing for what they think is the best they can hope to get.

Sites like these can be very helpful, as long as the panic and rumors don't overtake solid information and communication and organization. I just can't emphasize that enough.

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