Shreveport Shale

With the Haynesville Shale mines now one of the richest natural gas reservoirs in the United States, the greater Shreveport area has decided to stand united behind the energy paradigm shift that has taken hold over the region. Once a major player in the US oil industry, the city of Shreveport can trace a lot of its successful roots, followed by its inevitable decline, across the history of American oil production. The 80′s were a cruel time for the city of Shreveport as the oil and gas markets took a turn for the worse, forcing a lot of businesses to close and the local economy to dry up. The local recession drove many residents from the area, relocating to other unaffected locales across the country.While the city has recovered as primarily a service economy, with a heavily influential gaming industry a force in the local business landscape, government officials are readily welcoming back major energy company dollars with open arms, like the prodigal son returning from afar. Federal money has already been spent on the purchase of Compressed Natural Gas powered public buses, scheduled to replace the diesel powered fleets that have been a mainstay in the city’s public transportation network since the city’s oil empowered heyday. This symbolic changing of the guard is a welcome departure from the heavily oil dependent past, for environmentalists and new found millionaires in the Shreveport area alike. As natural gas dollars continue to pump into the area like, for lack of better analogy, a pipeline, it’s not just landowners being bought out in the area who will benefit. CNG powered buses and automobiles mark a vast improvement in environmental standards as opposed to traditional oil operated machines, offering lower harmful emissions. It is also estimated to be 30 to 50 cheaper than standard gas pumped today, making in a financially savvy switch as well.