Shale spurs demand for offices, high-dollar homes

The Barnett Shale is fueling the need for more office space and spurring sales of high-dollar homes, market professionals speaking at the 2008 Tarrant County Commercial Real Estate Forecast said this week. Click here to read the full report from S-T staff writer Sandra Baker.

-- Scott Nishimura

Comments

[BC]

Read the headlines today, Bev? COWTOWN OUTLOOK REMAINS BULLISH - TARRANT HOLDING OFF RUMORED RECESSION. From the article: "economists, even one from as far away as Philadelphia, tip their hat to the region's most powerful pistol: the Barnett Shale, the North Texas gas play that's been throwing off bonus checks big enough to pay for the latest Sony flat panels." How about this headline WHY THE BARNETT SHALE GAS BASIN COULD BENEFIT TEXAS MUNICIPALITIES. From the article: "the harvesting of its vast reserves has the potential to bring in large revenues and help with the capital needs of local municipalities and school districts" I guess that blows a hole in your gloom and doom theories, huh? Maybe you should move to California where more people share your liberal beliefs/concern for the homeless!

[BH]

It's a shame XTO isn't spending those
millions downtown on the homeless
project- Montcrief & associates want to
come knocking on tax payer's door's to
pay for it instead.

I don't think any of the homeless can
afford a million dollar condo in one
of those "Revitalized Historic Buildings"
or will be shopping or working in any
area of this revitalizing of Downtown.

I thought you were not against energy companies. XTO is a local company that is spending millions revitalizing historic buildings in downtown Fort Worth. You bring all of this on your self by making riddiculous posts. Way to help the people Bev!

[BH]

XTO is giddy and bursting with pride over
billion's in profit. How much are you
spending every week at the pumps to get
to work and back?

[BH]

spelling police,aka:BC

What are loss's? ask the Dallas Cowboys.

Bad business loans to Homeowners? Read the News on the Real Estate
market and the mortgage crash.

Signed default dead lease? Read up on the Glencrest/Briscoe leases
and any one who signed a lease with Four Seven's Energy, that
stated Four Seven's were drilling the well, not brokering it off.

Who is the oversite? Until landmen are licensed by the State, there
is none.

Poorly written? That's your opinion, we'er all entitled to them
some aren't worth a bucket of sludge.

[BH]

Phillip, I apologize to you and alot of your colleague's.
It was never my intent to include all Landmen in my discussions.
In the back of my mind, it's been nagging at me for doing so.
Now that the dishonest practices of Four Seven's Landmen have
been exposed by others besides me, I rest my case. I do hope
the day comes when they will have to be licensed and regulated
by the State's they are working in. Just like surface Real Estate
agents/brokers are.

If you go back to the archives, at the beginning of this blog
you will be able to understand why some landmen have a bad
reputation with the public. Their blog comments are derogatory
and unprofessional to the max. There was only one professional
Landman in the beginning who tried to help the people. He got
disgusted and dropped out of the blog. Actually, since the blog
authors started censoring the comments, most of the bloggers have
dropped out. I was on a mission to expose Four Seven's Energy
and their landmen for unethical business practices, to warn the
other mineral owners. Mission accomplished. Now, I don't have
much else to say, other than again, I apologize to all the
Honest, ethical Landmen working the Barnett Shale.

[Spelling Police]

What are loss's? What is a bad business loan to a homeowner? What is a signed default dead lease? Who is the oversite????? I don't know how anyone could possibly answer these questions when they are so poorly written.

[Phillip]

Well if you would carefully read my statements about licensing, that is what I meant by "bring it". I tend to agree with some of your statements at times. Licensing is fine for me. But what does Exxon have to do with the Barnett Shale? So far they are not here. I pay those high prices as well. But this was predicted over 20-25 years ago when they let the domestic companies go to heck in a hand basket when oil was at $10.00/barrel and natural gas prices were low. No one cried then when over 500,000 people lost their jobs in the industry. Now we are all paying the price for short term gains for so-called wonderful times back then. The supply issue will not get any better until the facts are faced. Ethanol, natural gas, domestic oil, nuclear, solar and wind will all be needed in the future. Even Obama said coal gasification may be a partial solution. I agree with you ethics are a problem. I am all for licensing. I want it now and welcome it. This is my profession and I am not a quick buck artist and all the people I work with are professionals as well. Thanks. Have a good day.

[BH]

We all know John Edward's is once again out the back door, wonder
how he makes his money? Think he'll have to put that mammoth new
house of his on the market now, in this dead Real Estate market?
But wait you say, it's only dead for the millions of average
workers in America who are losing their homes because of Bad Business loans and job loss's. Your either the Rich or the Poor
right?
I'am not against the Energy Companies producing gas/oil in the USA. If you will read my statements carefully, you will see that I am
against Bad Business Contracts by Landmen, backed by the Energy
Company they represent, Just like the bad business loans made to
so many homeowners. The government is not going to bail me or other's out of a signed, default dead lease for our mineral
rights. What recourse do we have?. Who is the Oversite for these
people?. With your expertise and experience, Tell Me, How Do We
Bring it On?.

[Phillip]

So how about the big old house Mr. populist John Edwards owns BH and Sharon? Do you include rich trial lawyers in your class warfare babble? Oil and gas is more regulated than any other industry in this country. So you despise domestic oil and gas companies that provide domestic jobs and you would rather pay Opec and allow rich sultans to drive around in their Mercedes? Wait to see who get's in office and they provide us all with energy independence? Right? See how high the price then goes. Nationalize it and see how high the price goes. BH, I have a Texas Real Esate License, a Texas Real Estate Appraisal License, a Right-of-Way License, and a degree in Petroleum Land Management from a State University. I obtain 16 hours of CE credits for my real estate license every two years, 32 hours of CE credits for my appraisal license every two years, 75 hours of CE credits for my right-of-way license every five years. I would welcome licensing for landmen. Bring it!

[Beverly Voss]

BC: I will give you credit for being an Optimist, enhanced by your
talent of reverie. Your conspicuous denial of the state of the
economy in the USA is abstruse and absurd.

The issue here is not a company of any kind making a profit.
The Big issue and Big Picture here is companies making
excessive, gross, appalling Profits at the expense of and to
the detriment of American workers and the economy. It is not as
simple as "class envy" as you state. The middle class in America
is disappearing at a fast rate, due to the Greed and excessive
profits made by corporations, most having a monopoly on the
Industry they are in. Couple that with the outsourcing of jobs
by these same companies, to save a buck by paying lower wages,
to add to the gross profits they make. America is becoming a
Nation of the Rich or the Poor for an average American worker.

Knowing you as I do, this is getting way over your head to comprehend. I have to have a license in the state of Texas
for what I do BC, that I have to renew every 2 years and requires
12 hours of documented continuing education to renew. My profession is heavily regulated by the state. You bet I am mad as heck that I was locked into a lease by a lying cheating ignorant UNLICENSED, unregulated Landman and Local Energy Company. If this landman
was licensed I could get my lease recinded, and probably his license to contract with the public made inactive. I have a new offer for my mineral rights right now, for 85% more than the one
I signed for, from a reputable Energy Co. What the heck, BC if
I can be screwed so easily by one company and Landman, maybe I'll
play their game and go ahead and sign this new offer also.
ANYTHING THAT WILL KEEP THE ECONOMY HOPPING, RIGHT LANDMAN 2 ?.

[BC]

So you are equally unhappy when American Airlines says they made a profit last year? How about when your neighbor sells their home for 10 times what they paid for it? This is really class envy and you shouldn't say that MOST people have an issue with people or companies making a profit.Profit is what drives things, not crying about how you got cheated/my neighbor has a bigger house than I do.

[BH]

Whats that got to do with the price of Tea in China, BC? which
by the way, Tea is very high now. It used to be a cheap drink.

I know you know how I feel about Landmen being Licensed in the
State of Texas, to have an obligation to the people to honor
what they say and sign on a contract/cover letter agreement
that results in a binding contract between the landman, the
Energy company and a mineral owner.
Lets talk about the Profits made on this and by whom, when a
contract is in default. It's the Landman who made the money,
passing the contract on to an Energy Company, who will make a
buttload of PROFIT and the mineral owner is left standing in the
dust, PROFIT for a mineral owner to add to the economy? only to
spend a large portion of his/her paycheck on gas to get to work
and keep warm when it's freezing out. Me and most of the population of Fort Worth only care about the economy in our own homes and live's, what's in the fridge, pantry and if our bill's are paid.
Are you so delusional to honestly believe that we care about Energy Companies employee's getting hugh bonus/profit
sharing checks, made off our backs??????. For the Economy, by
excess PROFITS???. Exxon Mobile is just one of Many posting billions in PROFITS. Read the news about a recession BC? It's the
People who are hurting economically by the greed and excess profits
made by hugh corporations in America.

[BC]

It's great that a local company like Exxon Mobil is doing so well. Think about how much every employee's bonus/profit sharing checks must have been this year. Think about how much of that is spent here in N. Texas. Do you feel this way about American Airlines or Lockheed?

[BH]

Exxon Mobil Corp., posts record PROFIT of $40.6 Billion, for 2007.

[BC]

Who gets to to decide what size home or car is too big/wasteful? What if you only use small window units like Sharon? What if you just drive your SUV to church on Sundays? This article is about people like you and me who are keeping our economy alive!

[BH]

And the public is paying for these for an elite group at the gas pumps, and to heat our homes. Excess Profit,Profit, Profit from
the people to the Energy Companies. We are to pay and conserve
while they Use, Use, Use.

[TXsaron]

These huge homes are wasteful. According to Shell's CEO, Jeroen van der Veer, in his op-ed today, we waste too much energy and must learn to conserve.

His 3 hard truths:
1. The first hard truth is that demand is accelerating. Energy use in 2050 may be twice as high as it is today, or higher still.

2. The second hard truth is that the growth rate of supplies of “easy oil”, conventional oil and natural gas that are relatively easy to extract, will struggle to keep up with accelerating demand.

3. The third hard truth is that increased coal use will cause higher CO2 emissions, possibly to levels we deem unacceptable.

"That is why energy efficiency is so important.
...
What’s the point of producing ever more energy if we continue to waste most of it? Instead, we should aim to become twice as efficient in our use of energy by the middle of the century. That is entirely feasible, provided that the will is there.
...
The world’s energy system is entering a turbulent phase, and the only question is: how turbulent? A cooperative world will respond more effectively than a fragmented one. Provided governments create the right rules and incentives, and don’t throw up barriers, the global market will direct money and brainpower to the best solutions. The alternative is a global market failure, and future generations would pay the price.

The author is chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell"