Natural Gas Fuels La. 'Gold Rush'

Untapped deposits create overnight millionaires
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 29, 2008 3:33 PM CDT
Natural Gas Fuels La. 'Gold Rush'
In this March 2006 photo, the Discoverer Deep Seas drill ship sits off the coast of Louisiana as Chevron searches for oil and natural gas deposits in the Gulf of Mexico.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The energy crunch is a positive in at least one area, which lies above what may be the largest natural gas supply in the Lower 48. As energy companies buy up real estate, some residents of the south-central US find themselves suddenly flush with money, and some are even becoming millionaires, the New York Times reports from De Soto Parish, La.

"What are these people going to do with all this money?" wonders a parish official who may be in line for a huge windfall himself. The price of an acre of land has climbed from a few hundred dollars to $30,000. Says a Mansfield, La., resident: "It’s nutty right now, but it’s nutty in a good way."
(More energy stories.)

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