Yet another reason to drill and use our own resources, rather than pay other countries for theirs. It’s not just a matter of new jobs, although it’s that too. But the increase in the local economy and in personal wealth is an important factor.
Feelings of anticipation are in great supply nowadays in the northwest corner of Louisiana. In search of what might be the nation’s greatest-ever natural gas find, energy companies are rapidly buying mineral rights from property owners across a six-parish region, affecting tens of thousands of people.
A layer of gas-rich sedimentary rock as thick as 300 feet lies about 11,000 feet beneath the surface.
… Teri White, 43, a department manager at the Mansfield Wal-Mart who owns a dozen inherited acres in DeSoto Parish, signed a minerals lease in July with a nearly $100,000 bonus. She put a portion aside to cover her tax liability and paid off debts, including medical bills from a serious illness, now cured. Then she bought a new car for the first time in her life, trading in a compact 1998 Chevy Prizm for another economy model, a 2009 Toyota Corolla.
“I put it to good use; it wasn’t just blowed, ” White said of her bonus. “It just made it so I’m not struggling so much.”
