Gold Rush Fever

Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed, A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed.
Then one day he was shootin at some food, And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.
Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.
---theme song to "Beverly Hillbillies" by Paul Hemming

Seems that gold rush fever has taken over this area---only this time it's "black gold". With talk of the Haynesville Shale, the topic of oil and gas leases, production, signing bonuses and such have taken over conversations in most households. It's kind of amazing to watch----unlike anything this area has ever experienced for sure. There have been neighborhood meetings and meetings with attorneys to help those of us who are "not in the know" try to figure it all out.

Since I have a pretty small piece of property, I've known that the largest "signing bonus" I'll ever see will most likely buy a new outfit at best, but still it's pretty exciting. I met with a landman today (or should I say landlady since it was a female) about the latest offer for the mineral rights to my property. Sounds good to me, but who knows if a better offer might be right around the corner? After all, last month the offer was almost half as much!