State Mineral and Energy Board

October mineral lease sale brings approximately $12.1 million

The state Mineral Board on Wednesday conducted its monthly lease sale in the LaBelle Room of the LaSalle Office Building in Baton Rouge.

The board collected more than $12.1 million in bonuses in the sale, bringing the total collected for the financial year that began July 1 to more than $22.7 million. The sale ranks as the fifth highest in the past five years.

In all, 29 leases covering more than 1,600 acres were awarded, out of 45 nominated tracts covering more than 17,500 acres, in the October sale.

The Board sold leases in 9 parishes - Bossier, Bienville, Caddo, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Plaquemines, St. Helena and Terrebonne.  Of the 29 leases sold, 23 were in north Louisiana and the remaining 6 were located in the southern part of the state.

All of the 23 north Louisiana leases were sold in the area of the Haynesville Shale natural gas formation -- in Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, DeSoto, Natchitoches and Red River parishes. Lease sale prices remain strong in that area, with the 23 Haynesville Shale area leases averaging more than $8,300 an acre.

The lease prices the Board has seen in the Haynesville Shale area in sales this financial year - averaging nearly $4,800 an acre in July and more than $6,500 an acre in August, no leases in the Haynesville area in September - have been on the increase. 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.

CLASSIFICATION	NOMINATED TRACTS	NOMINATED ACREAGE	LEASES AWARDED	NO. OF ACRES	AMOUNT OF CASH PAYMENTS
Lease Sale October 14, 2009
State Offshore Leases	0	0.000	0	0.000	$0.00
State Onshore Leases	33	16,517.900	19	579.620	$3,044,737.97
State Dedicated Leases	0	0.000	0	0.000	$0.00
State Agency Leases	12	1,091.862	10	1,025.122	$9,086,302.10
Total Sale	45	17,609.762	29	1,604.742	$12,131,040.07
NOTE: The totals for this sale do not reflect any options that may be exercised or revisions to acreage and cash amounts that may take place after this sale date which may cause these totals to change.
2009-2010 Fiscal Year
State Offshore Leases	25	40,470.370	6	3,626.592	$1,108,472.61
State Onshore Leases	72	35,212.186	44	3,047.186	$5,488,252.61
State Dedicated Leases	2	3,075.000	1	744.000	$260,400.00
State Agency Leases	41	2,575.230	37	2,163.890	$15,864,730.21
Total Year to Date	140	81,332.786	88	9,581.668	$22,721,855.43
NOTE: The Fiscal Year totals include this sale totals and also options exercised and revisions to acreage and cash amounts that may have taken place from the date of the last sale to this state lease sale.