Louisiana is now receiving the benefits of developments and interest in the Haynesville shale play in the northwestern part of the state.

Heightened industry interest in the play helped the state have the best mineral lease sale since the boom days of the mid-1980s, says Louisiana Mineral Board Secretary Marjorie McKeithen. The state collected $35.8 million in cash payments Wednesday at the June lease sale, primarily from leasing taking place around the Haynesville shale.

“This is an extraordinary time for Louisiana, particularly in north Louisiana, where we are experiencing something akin to a modern day gold rush due to excitement about the Haynesville shale discovery,” McKeithen says. The Department of Natural Resources reports that 25 of the 38 leases awarded in June are in Caddo, Red River and Bienville parishes.

The 25 leases represented 6.5 million acres.

McKeithen says the lease sale revenue is more than double the bonus payments for the previous 11 months of fiscal year 2007-08 combined. The amount collected at the lease sale, added to $27.1 million the state has already received, brings the fiscal-year total to $62.9 million.

That, she says, is the best year for the state since the boom years of 1982-83 when the revenue received topped out at $125 million. According to the Mineral Board, Louisiana received $52 million in bonus payments in 2007.