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trellis35
I am delighted that you have enjoyed that particular Bordeaux.
The following is an excerpt from an email that I sent to Martin Hull at Echo this week.
I do think that if one has something to say, then do not bottle it up, moan on message boards; but far better tell it to those that we employ at Echo.
Sent to: Martin Hull, Sarah Dess & Dr. Bessa on Tuesday, 30th July 2019.
"You speaking to me is not going to change outcomes.
We agree that you cannot tell me anything that is not in the public domaine.
All you can do is assure me that you "all" are doing your best for the company.
Being brutal, that is what you are being paid so to do, I would expect no less.
All that I ask is honesty, yes maybe a bridge too far in this business.
I do not believe for example that Sarah was entirely accurate when she indicated to me that the recent lunch did not have the majority of an initial list of invitees decline and therefore it was made into an open event to make up the numbers.
I am not sufficiently vain to think that my modest shareholding entitles me to anything more than a glass of tepid Blue Nun, a lukewarm sausage roll from ASDA and a rake of fine words.
Note that I am Welsh, I have heard the best from the best, public speaking is our meat and drink but it is deeds that truly impress us at the bottom line! lol!"
Enjoying the Cricket and the F1 Qualifying.
And a great evening inprospect.
WT
trellis35
Off topic, sort of, & it is the weekend.
Just saw your Sound post, and heartily agree.
Here, also.
I have written several emails to Martin Hull this week, which he did reply to.
We agreed that the "Time with the Team" session on Tuesday will NOT provide any new information of note.
That can ONLY be released by means of an RNS.
So any investor hoping to gain a glimmer of something new or important is wasting their time.
For those interested in berating or "shouting" at presumably Martin, will be able to vent their spleen, nothing else.
I inquired twice as to whether Br Bessa would be in attendance, the silence was deafening!??!
So, who knows. For all I know, he followed Fiona out of the front door?
Or just maybe he is trying very hard with his nose to the grindstone to make something of the Tapi Aike 3D data.
After the Tobifera debacle of last year, he has a reputation to regain - and I imagine that this may be his last shot.
All that I got from the recent Tapi Aike RNS was that they saw the same on the latest 3D as was on the historical 2D.
As far as wine is concerned, I have bought a shedful of top end Rhones from 2015/16/17 over the last few years.
And a bucketful of 2015 stellar Bordeaux, along with a bit of not excessively priced red and white Burgundy
Not forgetting more recently, some Bollinger La Grande Anne 2008 which is becoming impossible to buy at a tidy price.
Vinous.com scored it 97/100, Richard Juhlin the top Champagne expert gave it 98/100 and the WA gave it 19+/20.
https://www.farrvintners.com/wine.php?wine=51003
This weekend some Ogier La Rosine 2015, not very expensive but a darn good bottle.
This Cote Rotie lookalike is terrific value, I imagine that AOC status will be not far away!!
If I have the time I may pop in on Tuesday, I would advise attendees to have their questions written well in advance, try and come up with somthing "non obvious" and not make it acrimonious. Nothing is solved by bad manners.
Do as I did this week and write to Martin direct, he offered me the oportunity of a phone call. I am sure that he may well do the same for you. m.hull@echoenergyplc.com
Have a good weekend.
WT
trellis35
I could not agree more.
It will be more interesting if Mr Parsons pulls a rabbit out of the hat, ref: his current sales strategy.
He will be judged on his ability to deliver!!
Given the recent drill-bit and share performance at Sound, he would do well to give his long suffering shareholders a decent return on their patience / capital.
I would prefer every pound that Echo has, directed into Tapi Aike or Bolivia to deliver a tangible result.
A warm glass of white wine and/or tepid sausage roll along with pitch of a snake oil salesman pitch holds absolutely no attraction for me.
As ever, we shall see.
WT
joelebeau
I contacted Sarah Dees at Echo, and she assured me that there was no initial list of invitees.
This lunch was an "Open" one from the start rather than a fall-back position due to a "poor response!"
I hope that this clears up the matter.
If you have information to the contrary, then best take it up with Sarah. (s.dees@echoenergyplc.com )
WT
I think most of us have had our fill of rampers.
We know who they are, and the drivel that they spout, ad nauseum.
They come and for the most part, they go!!
On a slightly different subject, Malcy's Bucket List must be due an update.
It is all very well to talk up a sector in the good times, things have changed for us, will we remain and with what rationale?
And little comment regarding the performance of Ms Macaulay here or the recently "let go" Paul Welch at SDX.
All very well to do simpering interviews, but once found out - how about a healthy dose of "mea culpa!??!"
WT
10% down today at Sound. Over 12 months from 45.00P to 9.6P.
We are down in the last 12 months from 19.45P to 2.50P.
There must be a "common denominator," but I just cannot think who or what it might be?!?
If we bring the bacon home on Tapi Aike, it would not surprise me that "someone" might try and pull a stunt to our serious detriment!!
I concur with posters who say that the rampers might take a day off!!
WT
And the ramping starts all over again!!
We saw it last year with some posters, and now deja vu - all over again!!
I am not certain how good our geologist actually is after the last debacle.
He has much to do to regain our confidence.
We had a CEO who bet on BLACK and it came up RED.
Leaving much less for us going forward as she scampers off with a tidy pay-off and an immensely tarnished reputation.
We are best allowing Echo to get on with the remaining seismic, interpretation and identification of the best chances of success. And then the drilling, where there is a history of blowouts!! So more risk there, even though technology has improved immensely.
In my opinion, (with 20/20 hindsight) Ms Macaulay and Mr Bessa were overly optimistic at best and reckless at worst.
If Echo really wish to make anything of the remaining asset base, they had better get Tapi Aike right.
There are no guarantees, no matter what some posters write.
This is Oil and Gas Exploration and absolutely nothing can be taken for granted.
WT
abzzba
Using an online translation tool, I read that the Repsol well was non-commercial.
Not putting too much faith in these programs, is this accurate?
If so, it appears that another politician "spoke with forked tongue," as if we had not had enough of that; these past couple of years.
WT
After the horror story that was February, it was encouraging that focus is now on TA.
We seem to have got a good deal from CGC, which is pleasing.
I do however remember some concern about "wind noise" being a negative factor in the acquisition of high quality seismic on TA.
Has anyone got any information on this subject??
WT
Well done Soolsker
£10.00 plus Gift Aid paid today.
Ref:4CG06939XP490642N
WT
We have until the Autumn to get a grip of what may or may not be in TA.
Last Autumn almost did for us, so no hasty or uninformed estimates please?!?
A "good" day today, but remember all those LTI's who bought at 18P!!
Or those who sold at 2.3P!!
In the meantime, pray for some really good news from Shell &/or Repsol in Bolivia.
That might give our SP another good leg up.
This is Oil & Gas E&P, where nothing is a given as the February RNS amply demonstrated.
WT
Hi MrMarkyB
Words like "transformational" become the current "companyspeak" buzzword and eventually disappear.
They are misused & overused - are not/should not be taken literally.
Sadly, many do.
A bit like 110% or "very" unique, either mathematically impossible or literally impossible.
But misleading all the same.
When I hear such words or phrases employed by company executives, I do pause and wonder if they actually achieved a bare pass at standard grade Maths or English, let alone a degree.
Maybe one by post!! lol!
WT
I have not posted here since the February debacle.
I see that 250SWB still has the brass neck to post here, following his misleading and ultra-ramps last year.
I imagine that many shareholders now wish that they had not bought into his unfeasible notions.
Given this mornings RNS, we now have a credible path forward, on a conventional landscape that has promise.
I saw MH's "interview" by M G-W, no mention of recent failures and not particularly inspirational, but for a Finance man looked forward rather than in the rear view mirror. I do think that he has probably delivered the best that could be reasonably expected. And Bolivia just might, in the not too distant have some value for us, IF the other wells are successful.
I do however fervently hope that Dr Bessa's skill set is better suited to the Tapi Aike stratigraphy, and can deliver us some success in that province. His batting average up to now in Argentina for us is currently woeful, but you never know; his 2nd innings may prove to be fruitful for all of us!!
WT
Shaugreen47
I totally agree with your view of Mr Fez.
From his posting history, he slags off every share that he "may have" bought.
Surely no one could be that bad at investment selection???
Today has been a very bad day for Echo.
Made no better by those who ramped with no concience a week ago, yet today post another "contrite" epistle.
I am horrified by what I read during the "Time with the Team" session today.
I submitted 4 questions yesterday afternoon, other B/B posters duplicated them and I/we got answers.
We now know that the 4 well drilling program last year produced virtually nothing.
We are cash strapped for the Tapi Aike drilling program.
We have a geologist who has a terrific CV and enviable career (up until now), who will NOT make the same mistake again. Let he or her who has not made mistakes, throw the first stone. I have and I am sure, so have you.
We currently have a CEO who will give us an accurate state of the company!!
We may not like it but I prefer honesty.
But we have Bolivia and Tapi Aike. They have promise!!
I will stay. Many will reconsider or bale out.
But I have no time for those who led or encouraged lesser informed investors to big losses.
They knew what they were doing, they did not listen but drove hard with other investors hopes and cash!
I have no time for them.
I believe them to be the scum of these B/B's.
WT
This morning I potentially lost a very large amount of cash.
It is very painful, I am not selling up.
I said it before but it needs saying again that the hugely over enthusiastic cheerleaders, no matter their recent, difficult to believe contrition were proved spectacularly wrong.
And you can virtually guarantee that they will be at it again with Bolivia and Tapi Aike.
As memories fade on this unmitigated disaster, they will somehow TRY to turn it into an object lesson of a sort.
"Filled to Spill" is the descriptor that should be attached to those who ramp with capital letters with little thought for those that they potentially mislead. Walter Mitty, you decide??
I agree that with 20/20 hindsight there were indicators that all was not well.
My mind does go back to the Edinburgh Presentation that we never got to see?!?
I can imagine that a few videos will be deleted for all time.
The upcoming "Time with the Team" will no doubt be uncomfortable for those in the hot seats.
It will be well worth attending, even if you don't ask a question.
WT
For those who believe that Echo is leaky and the runes portend bad news, then you might consider your exposure!
Me, not a bit of it!!
Years ago, say in the 1970's when fracking or stimulating was still a bit of a black art, there were many failures.
I think that I read about some in Tapi Aike.
But in 2019, the process is well understood and I have not become aware of any major failures of late.
I do not seek to influence anyone.
I have done my own research and so must you.
It is not out of the bounds of cedibility that I have missed something, we are human and do not get it 100% correct every time.
For example, I see no news as a good omen, you might take the other view.
The one thing to remember is that the result at EMS is highly unlikely to be a binary one.i.e. No flow / huge flow.
Far more likely to be somewhere between.
I have listened to Julian Bessa and inwardly digested what he thinks.
There have been caveats issued by Echo that nothing is "cast iron!!"
And that is true.
E & P is hydrocarbon roulette, plain and simple.
If you want "IN" you must be holding shares when the little ball stops rolling.
It is only you who can decide if you want in or out.
Now THAT IS a binary choice!??!
WT
I seem to remember cautioning B/B members against invoking stop loss' recently!!
When stock is scarce, this can be a nefarious/unscrupulous method that MM's employ; to scare up some much needed shares to trade with!?! LOL
Do not be their next victim!
WT
Nothing again today.
And as the no news days mount up, a degree of fractiousness and possibly misunderstanding is evident.
We know that we cannot all agree about everything.
We hopefully can get behind the proposition that no news is very probably, good news!!
Waiting for some can be difficult to bear.
As individuals, much rides on the EMS RNS.
But getting "shouty" is not going to bring calm to the discussion.
I think that, by and large, this board has done pretty well in avoiding conflict and ill feeling.
And today takes us one more day and another step towards, what will be hopefully a good result.
WT
stix40
I have said "patience," ad nauseum.
Oilfield operations can take forever, or so it seems.
I remember one N. Sea well that was very deep, the wireline snapped during an operation and then the crew went "fishing" for it/
In the end, they lost so much equipment down that well, that it was abandoned.
The cost was enormous.
A scrap dealer would have been ecstatic if he got his hands on what was lost!?!
SDX currently have a small interest in a drill offshore Egypt. It may be 6 months past the initial estimated date of completion.
That is why, even though I am as anxious as everybody else for information/results, the one thing that I know is that CGC/Echo feel exactly the same way.
For a hypothetical example, if the EMS result was spectacular; CGC/Echo might have to have a protracted discussion with the Regional Government as to what they might be able to say. Echo might have one opinion and there may be others which do not acurately reflect the Echo take on the facts as they see them. CGC will not care because they have no investors to report back to. I am just guessing why a well test result might be delayed.
There are a hundred others!!
Best case scenario, RNS tomorrow!
CoS 10% (ish)
WT
stix40
A very good win at HQ.
Enabled by a terrific world class Welsh referee.
A fortnight before the match at the Principality Stadium.
I see a very, very difficult game in front of us.
Made no easier by 2 indifferent performances against France and Italy.
Warren Gatland and his coaching staff will have already donned their thinking caps.
In his last season coaching Wales, it would not surprise me if he pulled a few rabbits out of the hat.
The level of excitement in Wales will go through the roof.
Wales will be the massive underdogs, and England huge favourites!! Gulp!
And tickets will go for a Kings Ransom!
If EMS comes in as we all hope, then more than a few Echo rugby aficionados might be able to attend this eagerly awaited encounter.
Roll on the 23rd February!!
WT