Our latest Investing Matters Podcast episode with QuotedData's Edward Marten has just been released. Listen here.
I look at the website and the part on the newly acquired Santa Cruz assets and conclude that the information that we have on the fields, wells and flowrates is absolutely minimal.
We should have a more than cursory take on what is supposed to be our income stream for the next few years.
Where are these 15 wells that may be the subject of workovers?
Where exactly is our well is Palermo Aike. How close to the border is it.? Is there drilling activity on the other side of the border? If so, has it been successful?
In yesterdays RNS, reference was made to "existing discovered volumes" in Palermo Aike.
So what are these?
Are they wells? We have very little information on the nuts and bolts of our recent asset acquisition.
This is where Echo are failing us currently, yesterdays RNS was ambiguous in my opinion.
The information on Santa Cruz Assets is less than adequate.
How can new investors buy into Echo, when we are kept in the dark about assets.
Does anybody think it strange, that we acquired 70% of Santa Cruz.
Then very soon after, the owner of the other 30% sold up.
What do they know that we do not?
I think that it is in our interests to ask questions like these.
I keep on saying, look at we have been told and what has not.
To be brutal on a Friday morning, is this iteration of Echo any different to Sound?
Are we sleepwalking into a similar situation as exists there?
Our CEO is Martin Hull.
His email is m.hull@echoenergyplc.com
You should know by now that I am positive regarding Echo.
But it is our duty as shareholders (& to our families) to make sure that our investment here is being handled well.
We should have far more information about Santa Cruz.
I asked Martin for details of the CPR that led us to the Santa Cruz acquisition.
He said that it was part of a confidentiality agreement, and therefore was not available for release.
That seemed odd at the time, and in truth still does not sit well with me today.
So if you want answers, then email Martin. a two line email will do.
If you wish to sit back and do nothing, and problems arise in the future, then you will have the opportunity to repent at leisure. You decide if you can be bothered.
I do not see a solitary email to Martin making much difference, even though I have a not inconsiderable Echo holding.
WT
MrMarkyB
And might I add my congratulations on your considerable achievement.
A red letter day, indeed! lol
No, not ONE of those ones!
On this board, yours is a valued input.
Unlike a few who have no clue, and embarrass themselves proving it in idiotic postings.
WT
MrMarkyB
You say "completion which I presume?"
I look for facts, not inferred.
Being the sceptic, as I have said in previous posts - I kook for the said but also what is left unsaid or left up in the air.
We have been bitten very hard in the a**e by Echo almost a year ago.
I vividly remember that day.
I was asked a question by @tombi1, and I answered it as truthfully as I could.
In this instance, we see things differently, just a question of interpretation.
No harm in that!
Now back to buying a shedful of Rhone wine the 2018 vintage, which is today's primary task.
WT
tombi1
Hi! Unusually for me, I sit on the fence.
On one hand, I have respect for Martin Hull and his desire not to mirror the mistakes of last year.
Any news on CLM x-1 is reliant of CGC.
CLix-1001, seems to be a drawn out affair, with progress at a glacial pace.
But we do not know if they have had delays, for example mobilising the Eagle workover rig.
I cannot help but remember that happened last year, when it turned out that Echo knew that our entire drilling program was an unmitigated disaster, and they kept us hanging until mid February before delivering the facts.
The reality is that Echo has not as yet delivered a single well to us that has been an economic success. Dr Bessa must take most of the responsibility for that. CGC is responsible for the Tapi Aike drilling, so presumably minor input there. But this Palermo Aike well is where he can show us his value to Echo.
It seems to me a little odd, that the Springhill was not where predicted.
A question mark over the seismic data on the well, how does that impact on the rest of Palermo Aike??
There appears to be a little fuzziness in the information, for example on the perforating of the well.
For example, why the Petreven H-205 did not perform this task, and it is being left to the Eagle workover rig in late February?
In the 20th Jan RNS, it states that the well will be completed by the Petreven rig.
In todays RNS it now says that completion now falls to the Eagle rig.
But one presumes that the well casing is in place?
To that end for those of you who have little knowledge of this process, I have included an explainer at the end of this post.
It is this lack of clarity, that slightly disturbs me.
But they are spending the money to take the well to the next stage where perforation and testing takes place..
They have run well logging tools and the resulting information must be indicative of the possibility of success.
And no mention of hydraulic fracturing rather than a conventional inflow test gives rise to optimism.
The only thing is that we must be patient and see what the next stage on this well brings.
I just hope that it not a repetition of last year.
Hence the fence sitting, with a tad of expectation.
Completion Explainer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXdq65xzsus
WT
No bad news this morning, which must be a plus.
So another month or so to wait for news.
I can wholeheartedly agree with @Jobbinscl, when he/she says that @Somm is not a realist.
For example, in the Echo RNS dated 19th December, Echo clearly state that the targeted hydrocarbon volumes for the CLix-1001 well in Palermo Aike are 49.8 bcf (P50 mid case) not 20 times bigger (1Tcf) as Somm speculates. And the rest of the post amply demonstrates that he has no idea regarding the extraction of gas from a resevoir. I really do wonder whether Physics or Chemistry or Mathematics or Comprehension were part of his secondary education when he posts such inaccurate drivel?? For those investors not familiar with the term P50, at the end of my post I have included an explainer.
I will not block @Somm like @MrMarkyB has, the lack of understanding that some post on these LSE pages is misleading, ill-educated and fake news that others might buy into. Posters like him are dangerous and require monitoring.
The last paragraph of todays RNS is, in my opinion mildly encouraging and does deserve examination.
And so, we also wait for what CLM x-1 in the Eastern Cube of Tapi Aike will deliver or not as the case may be.
But CGC is the operator and majority partner there not us, and they are in charge of the news flow regarding CLM x-1.
P50 Explainer
https://www.cooperenergy.com.au/our-operations/glossary/p50-and-p90-mean-expected-and-p10
WT
PAUL1DEANO & SOMM
Thank you both for your truly enlightening posts.
I have not laughed so much, for a very long time.
WT
Well I just had another minor top-up.
Not because I believe that either or both of our wells will produce a multibagger outcome.
More, that the current drilling in place, the potential prospect of the western Cube, the possibility that if CLix - 1001 in Palermo Aike is a success, then it derisks the surrounding acreage and the 15 potential workovers should collectively add an indefinable increase in value to the current SP. Note lots of if's, maybe's and perhaps, absolutely nothing certain or taken for granted.
Whether it is of multibagger quality, seems fanciful but on the outer fringe of the possible.
But given that I have added to my Echo portfolio by 150,000 since the New Year, even a penny or two onto the SP might be most welcome.
So just sitting back and looking forward to the weekend.
GF away, so Wales v Italy, Ireland v Scotland & France v England in the first weekend of the 6N's makes my heart leap with joy!
And then on Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs play The San Francisco 49'ers in Miami, where the KC wunderkind, Patrick Mahomes gets his chance to strut his stuff, in front of a worldwide audience.
Perhaps a shedful of "duvet days" taken next Monday! LOL!!
This may just be the best Superbowl for decades?
A glass way past half full! lol
WT
Foxestocks
"Fearing the worst," seems to me that you are a glass half empty sort of a person.
Just because an RNS does not appear when YOU WANT IT to, you are posting negatively.
RNS's are posted when the work program has been completed, checked and verified.
Certainly not when impatient and immature investors demand their appearance.
If you had spent your career working in O&G Exploration and Production for two Oil Majors, then you would be aware of that.
So what factors lead you to believe that the RNS for CLM-x 1 is behind schedule or even late.
You might be better contacting CGC and castigating them for their tardiness with respect to the news flow?
Do you really think that the CGC Operations Manager at the wellsite is quaking in his/her boot because "Foxestocks is beginning to fear the worst??" LOL!
I think not, more likely they might conclude that you know little regarding well operations, most probably have never worked on a drill site and are just venting your spleen because here is forum where you think that a few might listen to you.
Foxestocks, you seek a voice to influence investors and you have chosen this board as your conduit to try somewhat unsuccessfully, to make shareholders take you seriously. We have seen your sort many times before and you will not be the last sowing your seeds of negativity based on zero knowledge.
An opinion based on experience, knowledge and fact does deserve a hearing, today you have just proved that all of your opinions and nonsensical speculations that can be seen on your posting history; more than demonstrates that you are just a poor soul that is desperately seeking appreciation, acclamation, kudos and reputation.
In your case you have to earn that distinction rather than employ fear as your friend.
WT
Foxestocks
You do spout the most laughable drivel on AIM.
That can be seen by your posting history, which is like the stench of putrefying Albatross trailing your every step!
Heck, you will be telling us soon that you are "concerned!"
Might I suggest that you collect your £25 from your paymaster, not forgetting the Luncheon Vouchers, and disappear into the wide blue yonder!!??!!
We know what your pathetic objectives are, and you are not welcome?!?
WT
After what turned out to be some incorrect RNS's last year, even if we get encouraging results from either or both of our two wells; I do wonder how seriously the market will take them, given the bad reputation of James Parsons.
As Chairman, he must take some responsibility for the wording of what turned to be misleading results, so I will be looking very closely at the wording of any potentially positive RNS. Again not only what is said, but also what might be omitted.
Again I cite Eco, the management there may never be trusted by investors again.
The upside though is that any RNS with respect to the "CLM x-1" well in the Eastern Cube of Tapi Aike, will have to pass muster by CGC, the operator and majority owner. But for the "CLix-1001" well in Palermo Aike, I'm not so sure.
But I am jumping the gun, all we really know is that some RNS's are due.
And Martin Hull appears to be a completely different animal to the discredited "Princess!"
But for those looking to bale out of Echo, a good RNS might present an opportunity; so this week an early start might be a plan.
I want to see what, if anything the Western Cube will deliver, so I will certainly not be losing any sleep or selling shares anytime soon.
Back to the cricket.
WT
Like MrMarkyB said, a fair few irons in the fire.
It would be brilliant if we got an RNS that actually gave us definite/proved/actual hydrocarbons on our acreage.
We were given to believe that was the case last year, but in fact squandered a whole tump of cash.
The great thing about E&P is that you just do not know what is around the corner.
And statistically, eventually one might "luck into" a discovery!
With the current political situation in Bolivia, in my mind that is another write off for us.
I see our future in developing the Santa Cruz assets.
We need to discover as we deplete, that 2,500 boepd number will not remain static, it will only go one way?!?
I remain positive and hopeful.
I do agree that Mr Parsons and his associates are an albatross around all of our necks.
They are a drain on our bottom line for negligible contribution.
The terrific thing is that we are wise to the antics that have got them this negative reputation, certainly at Sound and probably here last year. And they continue to potentially dilute the share value here, by continually awarding themselves options for what, I have no clue?
Next week, you just never know??
Have a good weekend.
WT
trellis35
And we gifted you the last 5N's title after Scott Gibb's unforgettable try at HQ!!
Always a great day, the last 3 matches played one after another.
I can only hope that there will be something tangible to scrap over on the final day, although your latest captain Mr Hogg never seems to require much of an excuse!! lol!
WT
MrMarkyB
Now that explains a lot! lol!
And I did watch PMQ's, so the dots were there.
But quite busy, no lunch yet......only reason that I can proffer.
trellis35
More likely the Sarries!??!
TBH I am more interested this year in the Chiefs v 49'ers than the 6N's.
After the way England utterly demolished the All Blacks in Japan, I think that they already have one hand on the Trophy and the other hovering.
But to console myself, I have many, many videos and DVD's of previous Welsh 5N's, 6N's Championships, Triple Crowns etc, no harm in allowing the rest having a tiny taste of the sweet success that our small nation has savoured!! LOL!
WT
Who enjoys a conspiracy theory??
2 selling trades at 10.29 this morning of 100 Echo shares that netted an uneconomic £2.40 each.
That just seems to me to be idiotic, unless I am missing something.
I have seen before, investors saying that 1 share sales or buys are signals within the market.
I have no evidence for this sort of market manipulation.
Some have said that it is.
Has anyone got anything to say on the subject?
Or could it be someone messing around?
Or even an investor with a sub-optimal understanding of basic mathematics? lol!
It is a Tuesday afternoon, no one has anything to say, so might it be a discussion point?
WT
trellis35
They could frack away in Bordeaux as long as they wish, the Bordelais are too greedy by half (who knew!?) and they will damage their Golden Geese eventually.
My utter dislike for Malbec can hardly be described, but Riesling easily surpasses it.
Delight me with a great Crozes Hermitage or a terrific Gigondas and I am in heaven.
This share malarkey and selling wine that I bought a decade or so ago, funds my current consumption.
It is my good fortune that professional experience and a hobby can have a crossover, where one assists the other.
The geology of an oilfield and that of a vineyard, the ability to be patient for results from a drilling campaign and the patience that is needed to wait a full 5,7 or even a decade for a wine to be at it's best. One does not plan it that way, it just falls into one's lap!
In my spotty youth, I could do impatience in the European Championships with a fair chance of a medal.
Just good fortune how it all changes and one grows up. Sorry! lol
WT
nyforever
I agree that one might make an approximation of nett play.
And I think that Martin Hull will not wish to mislead, given our catastrophe of last year.
And I have no intention of speculating a number.
Unless, I am hugely mistaken these two wells are just the starter course, preceding the main of the Western Cube.
The beauty of E&P Exploration is, that you just don't know until you've drilled it!!
I suspect though at a buying price of £0.0237 per share, I will probably just keep on topping up until I hit a significant number! My buy this morning has disappeared from the H-L list but is still on the LSE list. These listings are really curious!
WT
Feeling positive this morning.
So another round numbers top up.
I am looking at the lack of a depth of potential pay from Echo in the Palermo Aike well as a hopeful indicator.
And it is mine to lose, if I am wrong.
I am going with instinct and a lot of experience.
Heck, it's only money!
WT
It is all to easy to add 1 + 1 = 3.
But I am a suspicious person who sometimes gets it right and sometimes.........?
We had an RNS today with no zone thickness or reason given.
We had an out of hours buy of 250,000 shares which over the last week or so, was quite big in the context of recent trading volumes.
This may just be a coincidence or it possibly could be a leak.
The next few days may be very interesting, and IF I was contemplating getting out of Echo; I wouldn't quite yet.
Stop losses can be a useful tool but in a rapidly rising market, ones shares can be sold from underneath one with an out of date limit order.
I use neither of these devices. Not a fan of egg on my face!! lol!
WT
MrMarkyB
I completely agree.
There will have to be categorical proof of a hydrocarbon discovery before an appreciable SP rise.
A less than definitive RNS like the one issued today, in my mind only sows confusion and even distrust!
Echo though will have been aware of the result of not publishing a zone thickness, so I do wonder why they did not?
I did email Martin Hull this afternoon on the subject, accepting that he couldn't tell me directly the thickness or even why they did not publish the number. Presumably they have their reasons, heck it might even be a very good reason!!
One might postulate theories various as to why, but that would be unproductive.
As with most things to do with O&G Exploration, best wait and see!
It does amuse me though that late last week and over the weekend, some posters were calling for an RNS on Monday.
And it came, and now we are not much better informed post the RNS than before.
For the moment we must hang our hat on "encouraged" which must be far better than "abandoned!!"
Hope springs eternal??
I see that some plucky soul has just purchased 250,000 for £6000 at 16.34.
I wonder whether he/she knows something that we do not!??! LOL
WT