La. natural gas speculation padding pocketbooks, hopes (3/4ページ)

"Chesapeake is the largest company natural gas producer, being that 800-pound gorilla, and being up there for two years leasing quietly ... when the big guy gets in that arena people pay attention," Briggs said.

Still, the frenzy has landowners already in a quandary. Some fortunate landowners are grinning all the way to the bank, patting pocketbooks thick with lease bonus payments and anticipating royalty riches if a producing well follows.

Some are kicking themselves for accepting what they now believe were low-balled lease payments. Others, armed with more information, are seeking legal counsel or other advice as they bargain for higher payments.

"I saw my neighbors were getting not-so-good deals so I decided to start people talking," said property owner Kassi Fitzgerald, who recently held an informal gathering to share what she learned through her own research. "We just need to stop and think, talk to our neighbors. We don't need to get so overly greedy that we forget to look at the whole picture."

The Louisiana Office of Conservation will not weigh in on the natural gas leasing fever, Commissioner James "Jim" Welsh said. The state office issues drilling permits and holds public hearings to establish production units but it does not regulate leasing activity, the location or the payouts.

"The companies furnish to us what they are required to furnish. A lot of the information that's being circulated right now, we can't verify," Welsh said.

That's one of the issues that makes the Haynesville Shale still an unknown. With no independent verification of the significance of the underground natural gas reserve, the general public - specifically landowners - are relying upon industry officials for information.

Well operators are understandably guarded about their production efforts and thus the potential commercial aspect. Information gathered in the test holes is proprietary.