Haynesville shale drilling leasing Shreveport city property, using Cross Lake water

• BY LIZ SWAINE | Staff writer  Jun 17, 2025

Elizabeth Ersoff and her husband, Michael, were shocked to see water lines snaking out of Cross Lake last weekend.

“It was an angry moment, and it was jarring,” she said.

On Sunday, they saw “these four or five huge machines sitting on the side of the road.” Workers there confirmed to the Ersoffs that the machines were pulling water for a natural gas fracking operation.

The city has been selling water for fracking since 2024, but not always directly from Cross Lake.

Ersoff says a drilling rig has been constructed roughly two blocks from her home on Lakecrest Drive, close enough for her to see the lights at night and to hear the constant hum.

Ersoff and her husband signed a subsurface easement some time ago to let drilling lines run under their Lakecest Drive home, but now she is concerned.

“No one thought they would use it, but they're really close now, and seeing that, I'm worried," she said. "I mean, at some point could we have foundation problems? Could we have contamination?”

These concerns could become more common locally, Shreveport-based mineral consultant Skip Peel said.

Interest in urban mineral rights and urban drilling in Shreveport and Bossier City is on the increase.

On June 11, the city of Shreveport leased more than 500 urban acres to Chesapeake Louisiana L.P. and Cypress Energy Partners LLC for cash bonuses of between $2,500 to $4,100 per acre, and royalties ranging from 22.5% to 25%.

The city’s leased property is a mix of right of way and lots adjudicated to the city for nonpayment of taxes. There are tracts in Broadmoor and south to University Terrace and LSUS. In West Shreveport, there is an area around Westwood Road and portions of Broadacres Road, and around Steeplechase Road and portions of Buncombe Road in the southwestern part of the city.

“This has now happened because basically Paloma/Apex has shown up and there's very few places left to drill Haynesville Shale, because we're almost 18 years into development. And so what's left are the places that are harder or more expensive to drill, which would be inner city,” said Peel, noting that both Shreveport and Bossier City are seeing leasing action.

Though the most recent city tracts went for upward of $4,100 per acre, Peel said individual mineral owners probably will not get the same consideration.

“It's maybe a little bit unreasonable from a negotiating standpoint. In other words, if you have a residential lot, you don't have a lot of negotiating power, right? And if you ask for more than what is being offered, they'll just skip over you and force pool you into the unit,” Peel said.

Force pooling is just that. A mineral owner’s property is pushed into the unit, agreement or not. 

Peel says force pooled owners will likely wait longer to see any payment, which could also be less because lease operating expenses will come out of it.

Though adjudicated property, or property that has reverted to city or parish "ownership" because of nonpayment of property taxes, is generally a bad thing, the city or parish does see a mineral ownership benefit from it. 

“Back in the 1920s, I think it was 1928, when it became obvious how valuable mineral rights were, the state Legislature passed a law that says any land that comes into the state ownership or municipal ownership, the minerals are owned forever," Peel said. "In other words, somebody could buy that property, but they'd never get the minerals. The minerals always stay with the state or the municipality.”

Peel said though the price of natural gas is still relatively low, he sees evidence of changes.

“Texas developers have planned 130 new gas plants to meet surging energy demand," he said. "The state's power demand is set to double by 2034,” he said, though whether anything will bring back the heyday of the Haynesville Shale is questionable.

“In July 2008 [Petrohawk] did a bid that was for $30,313 an acre and a 30% royalty. That was the height of the market, and it crashed right after that.”

Meanwhile, Ersoff worries that the home she has loved for 25 years might settle because of possible fracking vibration, and she worries about the city's source of drinking water.