Barnett Shale

New blog author! David Wethe joins Shale coverage

The Star-Telegram is augmenting its Barnett Shale coverage.

Reporter David Wethe, formerly of our airport and airline team, is moving over to focus on neighborhood-level Barnett Shale coverage. He'll never be lonely here.

You'll see David's work both in print and online. Everything else remains the same. David will team up with energy reporter Jim Fuquay, city hall reporter Mike Lee, business editor Scott Nishimura, Assistant Business Editor Bill Bowen, and Assistant City Editor Richard Stubbe.

Here's how to contact all of us.

-- Scott Nishimura

From property taxes to injection wells

Here's an archive of recent Barnett Shale stories that appeared in the Star-Telegram:

• Gas drilling isn't likely to push property taxes up much
• Development offers a lesson in low-impact drilling
• Well plan injects pressure into waste water dispute
• On pipelines, city's hands tied
• Burns, Rangel will compete in council runoff
• Speedway Motorsports says it won't share its gas
• FW Council extends moratorium on saltwater injection wells
• Explaining Barnett Shale equipment
• East Side neighborhood group, driller, spar over drill sites
• Audit takes Texas Railroad Commission to task over well inspections
• City residents voice drilling concerns
• Mayor Moncrief says oil, gas income is not a conflict
• City has sharp eye on water disposal
• DFW council member Davis urges restrictions on drilling
• Chesapeake committed to Barnett Shale drilling
• Gas deals' fine print can be costly

-- Scott

Best of Blogging the Barnett Shale

Just checking into us for the first time? No worry. Every Saturday, we'll churn out a quick summary of the best of our blog posts for the week. Here's the first:

Everything's negotiable in lease negotiations. http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2007/10/few-rules-in-le.html

XTO, Fort Worth Energy donate $50,000 toward Berkeley Place playground rehab. http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2007/10/barnett-shale-m.html

Learn from the ones who went first. http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2007/10/learn-from-the-.html

Oakhurst residents in Fort Worth get first royalty checks. http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2007/10/were-in-the-mon.html

Central Arlington residents continue to see lease offers. http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2007/10/fielder-road-ba.html

http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2007/10/arlington-resid.html

A small neighborhood proves it pays to stick together. http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2007/10/leasing-why-it-.html

Mistletoe Heights, XTO, reach lease agreement. http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2007/10/mistletoe-heigh.html

-- Scott

We want to hear from you!

Have a question about the Barnett Shale? We want to hear it, and we'll do our best to respond. You can post your question in any of our blog posts, or email or phone us directly. This fall, we also plan to launch a broader Barnett Shale web page that, among other things, will include an area map and terms of lease offers that different neighborhoods have received. We'd love to see a copy of your lease offer. Please email, mail, or fax it to us.

Here's how to contact us:

Mike Lee, Fort Worth city hall, mikelee@star-telegram.com, (817) 390-7539

Jim Fuquay, energy reporter, jfuquay@star-telegram.com, (817) 390-7552

David Wethe, energy reporter, dwethe@star-telegram.com, (817) 390-7616

Richard Stubbe, assistant government affairs editor, rstubbe@star-telegram.com, (817) 390-7084

Bill Bowen, assistant business editor, energy editor, bbowen@star-telegram.com, (817) 390-7874

Scott Nishimura, business editor, snishimura@star-telegram.com, (817) 390-7808

FAX: (817) 390-7774

To mail copies of lease offers: Scott Nishimura, Business editor, Star-Telegram, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, Texas, 76101.

Thank you!

Drilling deeper for Barnett Shale answers?

You've come to the right place. Welcome to "Blogging the Barnett Shale," the Star-Telegram's new blog on all things-Barnett Shale.

We'll blog on everything from what's going on with leasing offers in your neighborhood, to what's going on down at City Hall, and what's up with the landmen and drilling companies that are working in the Shale. We want this blog to help serve as a conduit for conversations our readers are already sharing with each other. If you know of something going in your neighborhood, please share it with us! Anything's fair game.

Blogging the Barnett Shale will also be only the first part of an expanded coverage of the Shale in the Star-Telegram. In a month or so, we'll launch a Barnett Shale web page containing the latest info on what's going on with lease offers in neighborhoods around the region, graphics on how the drilling process works, a history of the Shale and the significance of the gas play underneath all of our homes, bios of the players, and Q&As on your offer and what happens next.

Thank you for visiting us, and check back often!

-- Mike, Jim, Scott, Bill, and Richard