Not Hearing Much . . .

Not hearing much about Oil, Gas and Mineral Leases (OGML) in Pointe Coupee. Seems like all the activity is in the North part of the Pointe Coupee Parish. And if one looks at the stylized drawing of where the Austin Chalk is located, it makes sense.

The older gas deposits could be said to be part of the "Down Dip of the Edwards Shelf." At least the well on Alma, lead scout well of the era, is said to be of that ilk. That is the False River field. As one moves slightly to the North and West, the gas wells are in Judge Digby Field (basically Parlange and Wurtell holdings). Judge Digby is North of and abuts to Frisco Ridge Field.

The Frisco Field is all oil and is down about 11,500 to 13,000 feet in depth. This is an old field and for a while they were ejecting water into it get the dregs of oil out of it. They shut in most of the wells and used one central well to get the oil out. Now, they are drilling a new well at a greater depth - 13,000. I think this is said to be in the Moncref zone, well above the Austin Chalk (or AC) and Judge Digby Tuscaloosa Trend wells.

We are waiting to see how the LaCour #43 turns out. It is reporting a good well but they seem to be working on it a lot post drilling operations. Rumor is that the long lateral, about 7,000 in the AC is subject to collapse.

The AC is hard, naturally fractured but is no where near as hard as the shale beneath it. That shale is said to be the cap to the Tuscaloosa Trend and is known as the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (or TMS).

All the OGML to the North and East of Pointe Coupee Parish, literally across the Mississippi River are said to be for the TMS. So it is AC in Pointe Coupee and TMS in West and East Felecianas, East Baton Rouge Parishes and further East and North into Mississippi along the common state border lines.

The "Go Haynesville Shale" forum seems to think that the TMS and the AC will sort of meld together. The TMS is generally known as the Eagle Ford in adjacent Texas (another hot spot). Truthfully all are slightly different and are related to the Edwards Shelf.

Time will tell.

Got A New Car . . .

Got a new car, an Explorer. My old Mountaineer was beginning to evidence some problems of age. The tranny was acting kind of funny when cold, like the internals were sticking. Time for a brake job. Air conditioner a bit on the weak side, still fine but probably needed a tune up. And, oh yeah, it had 93,000 miles and was gonna be due for the 100,000 mile check up. And these vehicles resale value drop like a rock after a 100,000 miles.

So it was time. Either keep the old one for another 50,000 miles and do all the maintenance or get a new one, at least new to me.

I got a 2010 with 17,000 miles on it. It has extra seats in the back, fold down electrically, rear cooling/heating system (got to take care of the third row passengers). It also has dual heating/cooling system that Judie likes. Tan interior and black exterior (not sure I like that too much, but . . .). Electric front seats on both sides (the old one just had that stuff on the driver's seat), heated seats, passenger side air bags and media control on the steering wheel. It has Sync for the cell phones but does not have the navigation system (I think I can find my way around). Got satellite radio too.

So it is a bit of an up grade to the old vehicle, a bit more modern.

I have already installed my model stuff in the back. That is easily removed and will be removed when the Jacob Morrisons arrive. I am sure grandson Will will be installed in the third row. We shall see.

It has got a funking gas filler. You just push the pump nozzle into it. Kind of hard to add additives if you do that kind of thing. They give you a special little funnel for that.

Basically, it is the same vehicle with more modern accoutrements in it. And all the rest is the same. Except this vehicle is black instead of tan. And it is Ford and not a Mercury or a Lincoln. But that is just fine as they no longer make the Mercury and Lincoln does not make their equivalent to Explorer any more either. So it is a spiffy newer vehicle and I do not have to worry about the 100,000 maintenance routine (new plugs, belts, etc.).

What a Waste . . .

Just read where Tulane is building a football stadium. Well, doh! Why did they tear down the old Sugar Bowl, a fine stadium at one time that was the biggest in all Louisiana. Why the Super Dome of course. It was supposed to replace the Sugar Bowl and be Tulane's home field.

So why can't Tulane play in the "dome." Of course they can and do. But they can not fill the dome much less any new stadium until they have a decent team. They had a shot a making a decent team by playing LSU but got out of that because Toledo's nose was bent out of joint. LSU simply wanted to make a little money on the deal instead of losing money on the deal. Tulane could not even begin to fill the dome thus it was a money losing proposition. Well they finally fired Toledo or he quit which ever comes first.

LSU said play in Baton Rouge and we will continue the series. Tulane said, "Up yours!" They got a one time payout of about a half million dollars and were told don't ever come back. Tulane has sunk even lower and hardly qualifies to be a Division I team anymore.

And now they want to waste money on a new stadium. Have they gone brain dead? They need to build a football team first, they think about a new stadium. If they do not then they will have another empty foregone place to play football.

I would have thought my brothers in New Orleans had more sense.

Geaux Tigers