The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
16k ppm (parts per million) is 1.6% hydrocarbon gas.
20k ppm is only 2.0% hydrocarbon gas.
The difference may be down to sampling error or how homogeneous the samples were.
I will be honest and say that these well results (so far) may be leading us down the same sort of garden path as last year.
I do not wish to impune Martin Hull and the team as that would be patently unfair.
Last year we had plenty of positive noise before the catastrophic RNS in February.
This year CGC rule the roost in Tapi Aike, so they are spending the most on completion and stimulation.
Palermo Aike, different story. I really do not understand why they have not defined the thickness of the potential pay zone.
Always wise to examine what was said and what was not!
One is reminded that at Eco in Guyana, the entrained H2S number was not initially released, we all know what happened when it was.
Many have said that Martin Hull will under promise and over deliver.
In conversation, he seems like a genuine CEO who really wants to put Echo on the map, and I take him at his word.
My opinion though is that Palermo Aike and the Eastern Cube well are probably not where the real potential value may exist.
The Western Cube historically has produced high pressure hydrocarbon gas to surface.
These two wells are unlikely to bring great fortune to us all.
The West may be a completely different story.
I really want Echo to succeed, as I do have a not inconsiderable share holding.
By the end of February we should have the story on these two wells.
Until then, at least for me I will to be very cautious in my expectation.
And I do hope that the decision not to release the thickness of the potential pay zone in the Palermo Aike well, does not come back to haunt the reputation of Martin Hull.
If it does, we may find that Mr Parsons selected for us in Martin, a V2 of Ms Macauley!!
I sincerely hope that is NOT the case.
WT
I think that it is interesting that we have not been given a potential depth of pay, which given previous RNS's that information has been the norm.
What we know about this well is that they encountered hydrocarbons at TD.
We are spending money on completing the well and testing.
We may need to spend more down the line on stimulation.
In truth, a predictable RNS, given hydrocarbon gas was detected.
And the waiting game goes on.
WT
utilitiesman
Thank you.
Mr Creed
Many of us who post on this board engage with Echo on the "Time with the Team" sessions.
If we have questions, we ask them there.
But we also email and book telephone calls with Echo management, (who are delighted to engage with serious and sincere retail investors) in order to get answers to any concerns that we may have. Having a go at me will not bring that RNS that you are so concerned about, closer by even a microsecond or alter whether the well(s) have been deemed economic or not.
You might be better advised getting in touch with Martin Hull directly for the answers that you are so anxious for.
Sadly, you seem to operate in your own little bubble which psychologically may be an error.
The RNS which you fervently wish to see, may come tomorrow morning. It may appear in a few days or weeks time.
The timing and content, will in no way be affected by your need to see it.
It will only appear when the news is there to be disseminated.
What actually lies several thousand metres below Tapi Aike or Palermo Aike will not change, because you are so concerned for the news.
Suggesting that utilitiesman & WizardTaffy are one and the same, exhibits a level of paranoia that is not only laughable but also concerning.
But enough of this nonsense, and back to my weekend.
Wishing you all, the same.
WT
JoeCreed
Corrected - over 5 times per day. Still not an inconsiderable output by any standards.
WT
JoeCreed
You have been a poster on LSE Boards for over 6+ years, posting 12,299 times.
By my mathematics, that is over 6 times each and every day.
That level of production must be time consuming and not a little wearing!??!
That indicates to me that you have far, FAR too much time on your hands.
And all you will do on Monday if no RNS appears is bleat to us all how concerned you are. Poor you!!
Maybe your time may be better spent, as I have done emailing and getting replies from Martin Hull or even engaging him in a 30+ minute one-to-one phone call (again, as I recently did) possibly to assuage your concerns.
That way you may be better informed and not being the deramper that you are.
In fact I would be surprised that you held 1000 of any of the many share forums you post on.
Given your improbably huge output of 12,299 posts, you may even be a Walter Mitty and hold NONE!!
Oil & Gas Exploration does not run like clockwork.
Delays happen, that is part of the business.
Estimates for work programs are given in good faith, BUT they are predicated on the available information at the time.
If you had spent your career in O&G Exploration and Production, then you would know that and be familiar with it.
Obviously you haven't and that is why you say what you do......ad nauseum.
My attitude is that if we have not heard anything, then there is nothing that can be said.
Plain and simple.
We WILL get an RNS(s) only when appropriate, not a nanosecond before and certainly NOT because JoeCreed demands one.
I do not have a problem, I preach the virtues of patience.
What will be, will be.
There may be success, there again there may be more failure.
There is absolutely nothing that I can do about that.
But on Friday I did purchase some more shares.
I put my money where.......!
You just sow discord and angst.
You may be better selling up and going elsewhere, as there IS a chance that these 2 wells will both fail.
I really hope that they will not, I did buy more shares yesterday but I am an O&G realist.
Have a tidy weekend.
WT
Nice reference Bobby!!
Joe, you can call me what you want.
By telling the world on a Friday night that you may throw your dummy, duvet and teething ring out of your pram unless matters go your way on Monday morn is quite enlightening. Concern is one step down from stress.
No matter, stirred things up here, recently it has been deathly quiet.
Joe, to lessen the "concern" that you might feel if these 2 wells are uneconomic, please tall us what your plan is in this eventuality?
Echo has drilled quite a number of wells so far, how many have generated income?
What makes these 2 different?
Our batting average is not good, so far.
Have a tidy weekend.
WT
dloughlin/JoeCreed
Monday comes and goes with no RNS. dloughlin starting to get concerned, JoeCreed standing right behind -ditto- LOL
Tuesday concern rising with no RNS. dloughlin/JoeCreed considering stress relieving medication! Are you kidding me?
Wednesday STILL no RNS. Concern at levels as yet unseen. Appointments made at GP's. May send an email to Martin Hull!
Thursday No RNS! No reply from Martin, he is busy elsewhere! Concern at fever pitch, looking for Samaritans phone No.? lol
Friday dloughlin/JoeCreed sell entire Echo Holding, all 10K! The stress is relieved. Still no RNS. The world keeps on turning.
Have you considered what will be your course of action, if both wells fail?
Maybe Oil & Gas Exploration investment is not for you.
I do hope that you can see how amusing your exchange was?
Presumably you both have a roof over your heads and food on the table unlike unfortunate billions on this planet.
This exchange of yours made me laugh out loud.
If a lack of an RNS causes you both "concern," then sell the shares and buy something less "stressful"!??!
Might I suggest that you have no idea what proper stress really is?
It might be if a major fire, explosion or gas escape occurs on the Oil & Gas platform you are working on, over 100 miles from land?
And you are part/in charge of the operations team/fire team that must deal with the casualties and the fire!
Or the helicopter/plane you are travelling on develops a hydraulic leak/ fault and the pilot has to make an emergency dash to the nearest airport?
I really had no idea how low the thresholds of stress were, that existed within some of the investor community.
A great start to my weekend. Thank you. A new perspective perceived.
WT
giantpeach2
Maybe my previous holding was 6998, now making a scary.........ha,ha!
WT
giantpeach2
If only!! LOL!
WT
A Friday afternoon top up, just to give my overall holding - round numbers.
I really do wish that those who post predictions of knowledge had some factual basis for their "Mystic Meg" statements.
Just maybe, they are just another "Walter Mitty?!?" without an actual share or a pot to **** into! LOL!
A good weekend ahead, and an RNS(s) when Echo have something to say. Time will tell.
WT
PAUL1DEANO
not:
PAUL1DEADO
Apologies, no more than a digital slip!
WT
PAUL1DEADO
Inquisitively:
Why Friday? Why not Thursday or Monday?
An RNS, forgive me but is there any other official mechanism of Echo notifying the market of news?
Seeds GROW, they do NOT take place?!?
The one thing I do know is that NO ONE on this board has any inside knowledge of events in Argentina.
Predictions are all guesswork, which have little basis in fact.
All we as investors can do, is to be patient.
An RNS might appear tomorrow morning or in a fortnight, if the latter; your "Jack in the Beanstalk" seeds might have exceeded the height of the Eiffel Tower! LOL!
I really don't understand why investors lack the ability to allow Echo, it's co-venturers and contractors to just get on with the job. Do you really think that they peruse these LSE pages and say to themselves that they must hurry up or try harder?
I didn't think so!!
WT
Another very minor top up!
No harm in a bit of positivity on a Monday afternoon.
WT
Every morning currently, when I wake up I take a quick look for an Echo RNS.
Last February, I (we) were greeted by THAT disastrous RNS that spelt doom!
I (we) of course were looking for something far more positive.
One year later, and it's Groundhog Day.
Who knows what the next RNS will bring us.
It cannot be as bad as that "sick to my stomach" (Hopefully Ms McCauley, you are reading this!) let down, that we all experienced that horrible morning.
Me, I'm hoping that at least one out of the next 2 RNS's will deliver.
After all, we have drilled enough wells that have come to naught.
Statistically, the tide must turn soon!
Whenever that RNS arrives, it will be a good morning.
WT
As I see it, we have 2 throws of the dice in the next few weeks.
Something positive from the TA Eastern Cube well, at best hydrocarbons flowing to surface at economic rates?
A discovery in Palermo Aike that is capable of being monetised or a result that is hopeful enough that it requires further investigation/fracking!?!
This is the beginning of a five well campaign, it would be terrific that we could start with news that might boost our bottom line?
Or maybe something about our 15+ wells that are candidates for workovers?
Maybe a map, current production levels and anticipated bbl/day rates, post intervention?
OT
My favourite NFL weekend of the year, the Divisional Playoff games. 2 on Saturday evening & 2 on Sunday. Monday, the College Football Championship game. All pure bliss for a non-footie aficionado!
But the upside is that the 6N's starts on 1st Feb with my lot playing Italy in Cardiff, Scotland travel to Dublin, and on Sunday France host England in Paris. After England's amazingly bulldozering performance against the All Blacks in Japan, the 6N's trophy is theirs to lose; as I honestly cannot see anybody turning them over!! LOL
Have a great weekend, I know that I will.
WT
nyforever / legsofman
Wine has been a passion and a great investment, even though I initially bought to consume.
I do have one bottle of Whisky that I purchased in Oddbins in the early 1990's.
I actually bought 2 but drank the one, and retained the other.
It is called "Against the Grain" and is a 10 year old Springbank.
I think that the original cost was around £15 and I was offered £300 some years ago.
Whiskey prices have gone through the roof, this I will not drink but keep until it will buy me some decent Fizz!
This is the one distillery that I came to admire, I went through the Islay malts phase from the ultra medicinal to the cultured, but finally it was Springbank that did it for me. But I cannot remember the last time I drank the stuff, even Cognac which I adore is not on my menu these days.
So a few bottles of very good wine per week, no more. Or one can of Stella with my dinner!
I have been fortunate in that I have never consumed alcohol for the effect, I adore the taste I detest the consequence.
I have done much voluntary work, so I have seen many lives blighted or lost by over imbibing.
A Saturday night on the Samaritans phones was an educational insight for me.
You never forget!! Believe me.
As far as "Only Fools and Horses," I watched them all first time round but that was it.
So that great Delboy oneliner, never really stuck.
As far as being conned, I never bought into the "Princess" nonsense, more her and Dr Bessa's CV's.
I could hardly believe that they would spend everything on effectively a wing and a prayer!
Little did I realise, that they knew early on that all of last years drills were optimistic drivel. It took them until February to come clean but I am fairly certain that something was said at the Edinburgh Presentation that let the cat out of the bag. One poster on here said it didn't happen, but others who did attend have flown the coup.
I did spend over 30 minutes of the phone with Martin Hull. It was a cautious and measured conversation, no cats out of the bag as one might expect. My current view of Echo today is the upside of potential of Tapi Aike and the cash generator that a few years of Santa Cruz Sur will bring us. We may be fortunate that Trump and his Middle East escapade might result in a higher oil price, plus a falling Argentinean Peso with which we settle our local bills. The big downside is the involvement of Mr Parsons and his friends who are a constant drain on our bottom line. I see Martin Hull as an asset, and was impressed at his refusal to throw Dr Bessa under the bus. As far as Dr Bessa is concerned, CGC hold the cards in TA, so his influence will be minimal there. His job will have been the Palermo Aike well and the 15+ workovers in the Santa Cruz asset. The last workover program was not clearly defined as a success, I do not know today whether the cash was well spent and value for money? But CGC who took back the wells most certainly will!
WT
joelebeau
I checked the quote on Google, and of course you are correct! 11/10 Thank you.
References from Popular Culture are not my strong point.
So ask me about EastEnders, Corrie, Emmerdale, Strictly and Get me oot of 'ere LOL and you will be met with a blank stare.
There again, more familiar with Chemistry, Physics, some strands of Advanced Mathematics, Geology, how to start up and run an Offshore Oil & Gas platform and the wines of the Rhone Valley, Burgundy and Bordeaux and I'm yer man!?!
nyforever
Well played Sir!!
WT
nyforever
So what SP do you predict, in order to make you a millionaire?
What sort of discovery's do you think will we achieve and where?
WT
Money where mouth is.
A very minor top-up!!
WT
To my mind, they would not be embarking on the stimulation of 2 zones unless there was some economic prospect for success and recouping the not inconsiderable expense. Remember that CGC are picking up 81% of the bill of the post drilling operations, I cannot imagine them throwing good money after bad. They have had time to look at the cores and the well data, now I am very cautiously optimistic!!
As far as the Western Cube is concerned, it will be the 205 Drilling Rig that has just spudded in Palermo Aike that will be drilling the next wells, so with the current drilling and then moving it to the next location in the West of TA, that will take a little while.
No matter, a reasonably positive RNS and much to play for?
A good(ish?) start to the New Year, long may it continue.
The only caveat that I might mention is like the bad news we experienced with Echo V1, it was all held back and then we were deluged and left with little or nothing. I look at Eco in Guyana, where the news that the oil in place had a previously unreported Sulphur content (Texan refineries actually want this type of oil) caused a collapse in their SP. Thinking back to the mid 1990's, I clearly recount that one UK Oil Field which had a sour crude, found a ready market and a small premium in Texas.
My point is that one might look for what is left unsaid, as much as the rest?
Call me a cynic, but I have absolutely no trust in Mr Parsons and his leech-like mates.
Martin Hull, I see as different but in the operational sense, he still has to deliver.
WT