Another natural gas discovery in north Louisiana could rival the...

Another natural gas discovery in north Louisiana could rival the Haynesville Shale
By Jen DeGregorio
November 04, 2009,


Another natural gas discovery in north Louisiana could rival the Haynesville Shale, which last year incited a gold-rush style drilling boom when it was revealed that the underground rock layer held one of the biggest gas reserves in the country.

The presence of the mid-Bossier Shale - which is stacked on top of the Haynesville, about 500 feet closer to the earth's surface - was no secret among energy producers. In fact, prospectors were actually looking to tap the mid-Bossier Shale when they realized the potential of the Haynesville Shale below it, said Joan Dunlap, a spokeswoman for Houston's Petrohawk Energy Corp., one of the biggest landholders in the Haynesville area.

But companies that wanted to profit from both gas finds had to first deal with the Haynesville. Companies must drill in order to maintain control of leased land, but most leases do not protect rights over minerals that may exist below the area that has been tapped. Firms were able to keep a hold over both shale deposits by drilling through the Bossier and into the Haynesville, Dunlap said.

Now that Haynesville production is underway - with more than 700 active wells in north Louisiana - companies are returning their thoughts to the mid-Bossier Shale.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., which launched last year's Haynesville frenzy, tapped one mid-Bossier well about three months ago. Chesapeake expects the well to produce more than 5 billion cubic feet of natural gas, which rivals the productivity of a Haynesville well.

With an estimated 245 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the Haynesville Shale has enough gas to supply North America for the next decade. Companies are still trying to get a handle on the size of the Bossier Shale, which covers a somewhat smaller area.

"The Bossier is not quite as thick and not under as much pressure as the Haynesville, but it's still pretty darn good," Dunlap said.

Petrohawk announced on Wednesday that it planned to drill a Bossier well some time early next year, which will allow the company to draw more detailed conclusions about the shale deposit.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has not specifically tracked the mid-Bossier, said spokesman Patrick Courreges. But the agency expects to get more information in the months ahead as companies begin to press forward with drilling.

"It looks a lot like the Haynesville," Courreges said of the mid-Bossier. "It's made of the same stuff."