Bossier Parish sees reward from oil and gas drilling
By: Kimberly Rusley
Updated: February 6, 2013
"You know god has really blessed this parish as far as minerals [are] concerned," says Bill Altimus, Parish Administrator.
Altimus says the money the parish receives through oil and gas drilling has helped tremendously.
That shows through the check Chesapeake Energy presented to the parish today.
"Chesapeake pays taxes just like everybody else, and so since 2005 when we began operating in bossier parish and some other formations, we paid a little over $5 million to just Bossier Parish alone," says Katie McCullin, PR Manager for Chesapeake Energy.
The company was paying its property taxes for 2012, and can you guess the amount? It was over $1 million!
"It was a good day for us," says Altimus. "As you saw, it increased $340,000 over last year, so that shows the amount of investment Chesapeake made in the parish last year, and you know we really appreciate that."
Altimus says he expects to see more money from drilling, since 27 permits have recently been issued in the parish to drill new wells.
"You don't see 27 permits issued over the last two months for luck," says Altimus. "I mean they know something's there. They're just working on, you know, where exactly is it, and then from that, I'm sure they'll do some serious production."
We can expect most drilling to be done in the northern part of Bossier Parish.
