American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2018 - 84

ConventionSection: Louisiana Oil & Gas Association

Louisiana Oil & Gas Industry
Shows Signs Of Renewal
By Dan Larson
Special Correspondent
LAFAYETTE, LA.-Oil and natural
gas activity in Louisiana shows signs of
renewal, industry leaders say, as prices
stabilize and hard-won efficiencies guide
fresh appraisals of conventional plays.
"We are still taking a cautious approach,
but our message this year is positive,"
says Bryan Hanks, chairman of the
Louisiana Oil & Gas Association. "We
are anxious to get back to work."
Hanks, president and chief executive
officer of BETA Land Services in
Lafayette, notes that when his industry
discussions turn to the near-term outlook,
many colleagues cite a perceived market
floor for oil at $50 a barrel as a key
factor behind their optimism. "Having
an established floor gives operators confidence in their plans and ability to move

forward," he assesses.
Hanks says he expects merger and acquisition activity in Louisiana to increase
this year as private equity investors see
the price rebound as an opportunity to
realize a return on their investments.
Austin Chalk Revival
For example, Hanks notes that in early
January, Amelia Resources of The Woodlands, Tx., sold 85,000 acres in the Austin
Chalk play for a reported $87 million to
an undisclosed buyer. The acreage was
only recently acquired, according to a
statement by Amelia's president.
Kirk Barrell described the acreage his
company sold as "targeting a shallower,
normally pressured, oil-rich, porous reservoir across an unfaulted monoclinal dip.
With the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale occurring 700 feet below the Austin Chalk,
the updip region of the play presents a

LOGA Annual Meeting - Lake Charles, La.
Wednesday, March 7
10 a.m. Golf Outing, Gray Plantation
4-7 p.m. Annual Meeting Registration,
Grand Foyer, Golden Nugget Casino and
Hotel
5-7 p.m. Welcome Reception, Grand Foyer
& Outdoor Pavilion

Thursday, March 8
7 a.m. Registration Opens, Grand Foyer
7:15 a.m. Breakfast
8:15 a.m. Breakfast Keynote Session
Speaker: Stephen Waguespack, Louisiana
Association of Business & Industry
9:45 a.m. Morning Session
David Blackmon, Columnist, Forbes.com
Anne Idsal, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region VI
Chris McClendon, Coastal Atlas Project
Coastal Lawsuit Update by Kelly Becker
(invited), Liskow & Lewis
Louisiana Severance Tax Valuation Audits
& Lawsuits, Randy Songy, Onebane &
Donahue
Noon Keynote Lunch
Speaker: U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke (invited)
1:45 p.m. Afternoon Session
Louisiana State Agency Panel with Chuck
84 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Brown, Secretary Department of Environmental Quality; Tom Harris, Secretary
Department of Natural Resources; Richard
Ieyoub, Commissioner of Conservation;
Jack Montoucet, Secretary Department
of Wildlife & Fisheries
Louisiana Resource Plays Panel Discussion
with Charles Goodson, Petroquest, on
the Austin Chalk; and Speakers to be
Announced on the Cotton Valley and
Haynesville Shale
Louisiana Legislative Panel with (all invited)
Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego; Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New
Iberia; Senate Natural Resources Chairman Norby Chabert, R-Houma; House
Natural Resources Chairman Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette
5 p.m. PAC Meeting
6:30 p.m. Evening Cocktail Reception
7 p.m. Dinner Event

Friday, March 9
8 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Breakfast Session
Speaker: U.S. Representative Ralph Abraham, R-La.
9:30 a.m. LOGA Board of Directors Meeting

potential 'stack play' opportunity."
The Amelia announcement followed
one made in late December by PetroQuest
Energy that it had acquired 24,600 acres
of Austin Chalk leases in Central Louisiana
for $8.7 million, according to a company
statement.
And a research firm notes new attention
is being paid to the Austin Chalk, based
on deals announced last year. This renewed
interest, combined with an upswing in
asset values in the Haynesville Shale that
started in 2016, bodes well for operators
and oil field service companies doing
business in the Bayou State, Hanks says.
Analysts at PLS Inc. in Houston suggest
disciplined capital policies developed
during the downturn have led "first movers
to the next resource play story: the Austin
Chalk-another old play with a technology-driven revival."
The firm also notes M&A activity in
the Haynesville bottomed in 2015 at $900
million. In 2016, however, activity in the
Haynesville rebounded to $3.2 billion
and was followed by a 0.7 percent increase
in deal value last year.
The industry's cautious optimism will
be on display at LOGA's 2018 annual
convention, scheduled for March 7-9 at
the Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel in
Lake Charles.
"Since the market shifted so drastically
in 2015, there has never been a more
critical time for industry professionals to
stay informed," the association asserts in
a preview of the meeting.
LOGA's meeting is only just days before the start of the Louisiana legislative
session, giving members plenty of choices
for hallway conversation topics. "March
in Louisiana is also prime crawfish season,"
Hanks quips, "so we will have that going
for us, too."
Tax Progress
LOGA can claim some important
progress during the past year in a longrunning dispute between industry and the
Louisiana Assessors Association (LAA).
Daron Fredrickson, chairman of
LOGA's Tax Committee and a partner at
Merit Advisors, reported last fall that his
http://www.Forbes.com
American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2018

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