The State Mineral and Energy Board of Louisiana conducts monthly leases of mineral rights on public lands in the state. The latest results for the December 2009 leases show an upturn in payments for mineral rights in the Haynesville Shale. They are still below the peak of 2008, but the direction is heading up. Here are the comments from the board:
“Of the 15 north Louisiana leases, 14 were sold in the area of the Haynesville Shale natural gas formation -- in Bienville, Caddo, DeSoto and Sabine parishes. Lease sale prices remain strong in that area, with the 14 Haynesville Shale area leases averaging more than $6,100 an acre.”
“The lease prices the Board has seen in the Haynesville Shale area in sales this financial year have remained at an average of more than $6,000 an acre since August. The figures for that area are strong compared to previous years, though not what they were during the heat of the 2008 rush. For the parishes that have been the primary interest area for the Haynesville Shale, lease price sales averaged about $532 an acre in 2007 and about $252 an acre in 2006.”